Israel Adesanya is a New Zealand MMA fighter and interim UFC middleweight champion with a brilliant sports career and a belt claim.
Biography
Future interim UFC champion Israel Mobolaji Adesanya was born on July 22, 1989 in Lagos (the largest city in Nigeria) and almost immediately moved to New Zealand, in Wanganui. From childhood, he began to engage in martial arts and could always stand up for himself. Practiced taekwondo, kickboxing, muay thai.
In October 2009, he made his amateur MMA debut in a three-round match, losing to Neroi Savainya. But this did not undermine the desire to move forward. And already in 2010, he moved to Auckland for training at a higher level under the leadership of Eugene Baremen, where in two years he won 32 matches in two years, keeping zero in the defeats column. In parallel with a career in kickboxing, Adesanya decides to fight again according to the rules of MMA, but at a professional level, where he will win a crushing victory in two fights.
He continued his performances in major promotions such as Kunlun Fight and Glory. Even in 2014, he made his professional boxing debut with Daniel Aman, but was defeated by a referee decision. Subsequent battles were winning. Five wins against one defeat.
UFC career
Even before the debut fight in the largest fighting organization Ultimate Fighting Championship, Adesanya has riveted huge attention of the American public. In February 2018, a fight took place with Australian Rob Wilkinson, and in the second round the referee stopped the fight due to crushing blows from Israel.
Two months later, Israel has already participated in a duel with Italian mixed fighter Marvin Vettori. The fight took place mainly on the ground. The victory was awarded to Adesanya by a split decision.
In the same year, two more fights took place, with American Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson, where the fighter won victories and was awarded a bonus for the best performance of the evening.
On February 10, 2019, a historic duel between Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva took place in Melbourne. Silva, also known under the pseudonym "Spider", holds the record for the number of fights fought in champion status. He won 16 victories in a row and defended the belt ten times. The fight lasted all five rounds, with a young representative from New Zealand becoming the winner. Israel expressed deep respect for his opponent and said that he had a strong influence on him at the beginning of his career.
In April 2019, a fight for the UFC interim middleweight title took place between Calvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya. The reason was Robert Whittaker's recovery from surgery. The fight turned out to be difficult for both sides. The advantage passed from one fighter to another throughout all five rounds. The last round was very successful for Adesanya, he knocked down Calvin several times. As a result, Israel Adesanya won the interim UFC middleweight title by unanimous decision.
