Israel Adesanya is the current UFC middleweight Champion and this Saturday he is fighting for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship against Jan Błachowicz. The Last Stylebender is aiming to become the fifth UFC double champion and go down as one of the greatest of all time.
Before joining the UFC Adesanya was a very successful kick boxer winning multiple different championships in different organisations and finished with a record of 75-5.
Embed from Getty ImagesAdesanya made his MMA debut in 2012 where won via TKO in the first round. However, he didn’t start fighting consistently in MMA till 2016 where he was fighting consistently in China. His final two fights before joining the UFC was in Australia where he was able to win the Australia Fighting Championship Middleweight Championship. In December 2017 with a record of 11-0 Adesanya joined the UFC.
Adesanya made his UFC debut against Rob Wilkinson at UFC 221 in February 2018
As the fight started Wilkinson done his best to get Adesanya on the ground due to The Last Stylebender’s ability when standing up. However Wilkinson didn’t know Adesanya’s ability when it comes to wrestling has he tried to take him down 10 times in the first round and only succeeded twice. During the first round Adesanya done a good job in land strikes on his opponent whenever he could. When the second round started he started to land consistently on his opponent and showed the high level of striking he possessed and he was able to finish the fight via TKO.
Embed from Getty ImagesAdesanya was able to win the Performance of the Night award thanks to his impressive display and announce himself to the UFC that he was a real contender in the Middleweight division.
Adesanya’s second fight in the UFC was against Marvin Vettori in April 2018. This was the first real challenge Adesanya faced in the Octagon as Vettori but him under a lot of pressure in the fight. Adesanya was able to land more strikes in the fight and was the deserved winner when it. However for the first time in his MMA career a judge scored against him.
Embed from Getty ImagesPost fight people questioned Adesanya’s ability with he isn’t standing up in the fight and people questioned whether he would be a success in the UFC.
Adesanya’s next fight was against Brad Tavares in the UFC, which took place at the The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale as the main event.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis was Adesanya’s first five round fight in the UFC which again resulted in Adesanya winning via the judges scorecard. This time he had won on all three of the judges scorecards. Throughout the fight Adesanya showed his high level kickboxing skills and showed he is one of the best stand up fighters in the UFC.
Adesanya’s next fight was the toughest in his career so fair as he faced Derek Bronson at UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden. Bronson is a very experience MMA fighter who has been fighting in the UFC since 2012. Going into the fight people saw this as a opportunity for Adesanya to slip up and lose his undefeated record.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs the fight started Brunson consistently tried to take Adesanya down but was able to defend all five attempts. The Last Stylebender was able to used Brunson’s final takedown attempted resulted in Adesanya’s cracking him with a knee to the head which set up the victory. It was a very impressive first round victory for Adesanya which he again showed his high level striking again. After this win people started to really believe that Adesanya could become a future world champion. Then he fought one of the greatest of all time.
Fight against Anderson Silva
Embed from Getty ImagesAdesanya’s next fight was against Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Silva has the record for the longest title reign in the history of the UFC, 2,457 days, which involved 16 title defences.
Silva was one of Adesanya’s hero but The Last Stylebender knew he has to win the fight to help him get his UFC Middleweight title fight.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe fight was extremely entertaining as both fighters showed their high level striking land multiple strikes on each other. The fight also involved showboating from both of the fighters which the crowd in Australia loved and enjoyed the main event which was the passing of the guard in the middleweight division. Adesanya’s striking ensured to a victory via unanimous decision. Post fight Adesanya showed emotion that no one had ever seen from him before has he showed a lot of respect to one of his idols throughout his career.
Embed from Getty ImagesUFC interim UFC Middleweight Fight vs Kelvin Gastelum
The UFC Middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, was out due to an abdominal hernia of the intestine and a twisted and collapsed bowel meant Kevin Gastelum became the interim Middleweight champions. Due to Adesanya’s win over Silva he was now in line with to fight Gastelum for his interim championship. Going into the fight Adesanya was the favourite but people believed that Gastelum could potentially shock The Last Stylebender.
Adesanya vs Gastelum was one of the greatest UFC title fights off all time as both fighters left everything in the octagon. In the first round Adesanya got dropped for the first time in his UFC career with a right hook from Gastelum. The Last Stylebender was able to recover in the next two rounds as he was able to land shots consistently, which involved knocking Gastelum in the second round. He was able to defend Gastelum’s takedown attempts well during these rounds as well and was looking to win the Interim Middleweight championship.
Embed from Getty ImagesHowever in the forth round Adesanya got extremely hurt late in the round due to getting a head kick. This was the closest Adesanya was to getting finished in the UFC as he had to survive late pressure in the round and stay in the fight.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe final round was the decider for the fight as both fighters won two rounds each. Adesanya put Gastelum under a lot of pressure early in the round and was landing a lot of shots. As Gastelum tried fighting back Adesanya was able to land a lot of counter shots on his opponent and was able to drop him consistently. His opponent done well to survive the round but due to Adesanya’s performance in the final round he won the interim Middleweight championship
Embed from Getty ImagesUndisputed Championship
Now Adesanya is the interim champion the next step in his career is to fight the UFC Middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, to become the undisputed champion. Adesanya had been a fighting in the UFC for less than two years and now he is fighting for the undisputed UFC middleweight championship. His opponent, Whittaker has not fought in the octagon for over a year due to injury where The Last Stylebender had been in four fights.
As the fight started Whittaker tried putting pressure on Adesanya but The Last Stylebender done well avoiding his strikes in the first round. Whittaker was missing his normal punching accuracy as being out of the octagon for over a year began to show. With seconds left in the first round Adesanya was able to land a counter shot with his right hand on Whittaker which dropped him.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs the second round started Adesanya realised that this was his chance to win the fight and become the undisputed champion. Whittaker was again aggressive during the round trying to land a lot of shots on Adesanya but done well avoiding his punches and lands counter strikes regularly. In the second round he was able to land a brutal left hand counter shot which dropped Whittaker, he was able to then land some finishing blows on his opponent and became the UFC undisputed middleweight champion.
Embed from Getty ImagesTitle Defences
Adesanya’s first title defence was against the very experience and very dangerous Yoel Romero at UFC 248. Romero was seen as a dangerous opponent for Adesanya with his dangerous ability while standing up and a very strong wrestler, won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in freestyle wrestling.
Embed from Getty ImagesPeople was expecting fireworks as both fighters was are known for their knockout ability. However it was a rather dull affair that Adesanya won via unanimous decision. Throughout the fight Adesanya was constantly attacking Romero’s leg slowing down the Cuban. It was another win on Adesanya’s record making it 19-0 but was a bit of a disappointment for the neutral fight fan.
Adesanya’s most recent fight was against Paulo Costa at UFC 253. Going into the fight Costa was also undefeated in his professional MMA career. Going into the fight it was Adesanya’s longest break between fights due to the COVID-19 pandemic where people suggested a possible upset.
After the disappointment of the Romero fight and the long time out of the Octagon, Adesanya was able to remind people how good of a fighter he is defeating Costa inside the second round via TKO. The Last Stylebender done well at constantly landing on his opponent and Costa looked extremely out of his depth.
AIMING TO BECOME A DOUBLE CHAMPION
Adesanya is now aiming to become fifth UFC double champion as he is fighting Jan Błachowicz for his UFC Light Heavyweight championship at UFC 259.
Embed from Getty ImagesAdesanya has made it clear that he wants to become one of the greatest of all time at MMA. If Adesanya wins the Light Heavyweight champion it could set up a future fight against one of the all time greats, Jon Jones. The Last Stylebender is currently 20-0 in his MMA career and the longer he remain unbeaten greater his legacy will be. His fight Saturday night is a huge step in becoming one of the greatest to ever enter the Octagon. Is Adesanya the best current fighter in MMA? Will remain unbeaten in his entire career? Can he become the greatest ever? These questions will be answered in the next few years but everything he has achieved so far in his career means anything is possible for The Last Stylebender
