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Israel Adesanya has had an amazing combat sports career so far. The Nigerian-born New Zealander has a professional boxing record of 5-1, a staggering professional kickboxing record of 75-5 and a pro-MMA record of 20-1.
'The Last Stylebender' suffered the only blemish on his MMA record against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in an ambitious attempt to move up a weight class and challenge for the light heavyweight title.
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Light heavyweight goals notwithstanding, Adesanya is still currently the UFC middleweight king - he has won all nine of his UFC middleweight fights. His road to becoming middleweight champion encompassed victories over Anderson Silva, Derek Brunson, Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker, and even his next opponent, Marvin Vettori.
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However, Blachowicz exposed the holes in Adesanya's game, which his future opponents will look to capitalize on.
Let’s take a look at three of the worst stylistic matches in the UFC for Israel Adesanya:
#3 Omari Akhmedov vs Israel Adesanya
This is the wild card entry, and although currently ranked thirteenth in the middleweight division, Omari ‘Wolverine’ Akhmedov has the skill set to cause problems for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
If there was one thing to note from Israel Adesanya’s first loss at UFC 259, it’s that he doesn’t respond well with his back to the canvas. Jan Blachowicz nullified the middleweight champion's entire arsenal of weapons by simply smothering him with effective takedowns.
A member of the continuous flow of recent Dagestani MMA stars, Akhmedov’s entire fighting style is built on a foundation of supreme wrestling ability.
‘Wolverine’ has proved to be incredibly durable many times inside the octagon, including a hard fought majority draw with Marvin Vettori in 2017. If Israel Adesanya is taken down early by the Dagestani, it would be a long night indeed.
#2 Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya 2
Yes, the first time Robert Whittaker fought Israel Adesanya it didn’t go very well for the Australian. You could even argue that ‘The Last Stylebender’ had his best UFC performance to date, dropping Whittaker with a crisp left hook in the second round, the follow up of punches ending the fight in devastating fashion.
‘The Reaper’ did have some success up to that point, but his willingness to stand and trade with such a talented striker proved to be his downfall.
It can be hard for a fighter to recover from such a crippling loss, but Whittaker has since gone from strength to strength inside the octagon. Newfound maturity has seen the Australian rack up an impressive three-fight win streak, with victories over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.
This new-and-improved Whittaker has learned to pace himself properly, not to rush in to stand and trade, and with revenge in mind he is a very dangerous opponent for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
#1 Marvin Vettori vs Israel Adesanya 2
In all of Israel Adesanya’s middleweight MMA fights, no one has come closer to beating him than ‘The Italian Dream’ Marvin Vettori.
A very closely fought two rounds was followed by total Italian domination in the third, as Vettori scored takedowns and smothered Adesanya’s attacks. ‘The Last Stylebender’ scraped a win via split-decision, yet you feel if the contest went five rounds, the picture would be very different.
At UFC 263, their highly anticipated rematch will indeed be five championship rounds. Judging by the manner of his loss to Jan Blachowicz in March, Israel Adesanya has not improved his ground game since the first Vettori fight in 2018.
It will be a fascinating rematch stylistically, and Adesanya’s greatest middleweight challenge to date.
