Moments that show Israel Adesanya has a champion's heart

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is one of the biggest names in the UFC right now. The Nigerian-born fighter has had an incredible run in the UFC so far. Since his debut in February 2018, it has only taken 'The Last Stylebender' seven fights in 20 months to become the middleweight king.

Isreal Adesanya has defeated competitors like Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero, who are considered the 'creme de la creme' of the UFC's middleweight division.

The 31-year-old is all set to take on Marvin Vettori for his next title defense at UFC 263. It will be a rematch with Adesanya having won the first fight via a split decision in April 2018.

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Let's take a look at 4 moments that showed the world that Israel Adesanya is a champion in the truest sense of the word:

#4 "I was in the nosebleeds and now I made his nose bleed."

UFC 243 was a memorable night not only for Israel Adesanya, but for MMA fans around the world. Adesanya took on former UFC champion Robert Whittaker for the middleweight crown.

From Israel Adesanya's epic walkout to the fact that it was the largest live audience present at a UFC event, a lot of special things happened at UFC 243.

'The Last Stylebender' put on a striking clinic and knocked out 'The Reaper' in the second round of the main event.

After his win, Israel Adesanya said in his post-fight interview:

"Like I said, I was in the nose bleeds and now I made his nose bleed."

This line by Adesanya highlighted the New Zealander's tough road to the middleweight throne.

#3 Israel Adesanya at the BLM protests

Israel Adesanya showed that he is as much a champion in the outside world as he is in the UFC when he took part in protests that were caused by the death of George Floyd:

"I'm p----d off...How many of you walk into a store and have to put your hands behind your back just so they don't think you're stealing? How many of you walk down the street and have to kind of smile and try and make the person, who you can see is already scared of you, make them comfortable?...I smile at them, so now I gotta stay to the side and let them walk through just so they don't get scared when they see me. Why? Because I'm black. Just because I'm black. What did I do? I didn't have a choice. If I had a choice, I'd still be black." said Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya got really emotional and had to fight back tears during his powerful speech at the protests:

"I'm sick and tired of seeing these faces get killed because guess what, I see myself in them the whole time. It's heartbreaking man and I'm p----- off."

#2 "Dare to be great"

A true champion conducts himself in an orderly manner not only when he's winning, but also when he is at the losing end of a fight.

At UFC 259, Israel Adesanya went up to light heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz for the UFC title. 'The Last Stylebender' came up short against Blachowicz as the Polish fighter cruised towards a decision victory. This was the first time someone had defeated Adesanya in MMA, let alone the UFC.

But the Nigerian-born took the result really well and did not look to be very affected by the loss:

"Didn't go exactly the way I wanted it to go but, you know, dare to be great. You know, the critics... they are on sidelines, but I'm the one putting it on the line...The size did play a factor [in the fight] but my technique could have been a lot finer. He made me look like I had a butter-guard," said Israel Adesanya in a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

Adesanya behaved the same way in the post-fight press conference where he apologized to his fans for letting them down:

"Everyone who supports me, all my people, I appreciate you...I like to make my fans be proud...I'm sorry I let you down. If you wanna hop off the hype train, bro, get the f--- off the hype train. We're just stopping for a little gas. Understand? You can get the f--- off. If you wanna stick with me, stick with me. Trust me, I'll show you a good time. it's gonna be a fun ride. I appreciate you all."

#1 "I'm prepared to die"

"You can't beat me. I'm prepared to die."

These were the words that came out of a bruised and battered Israel Adesanya's mouth before he went into the fifth round of his fight against Kelvin Gastelum. The previous four rounds had been a back-and-forth war with the fifth being the deciding factor for the fight.

The New Zealander showed his strong will and determination as he dominated Gastelum for the entirety of the round, earning Adesanya the interim UFC belt.

Speaking about the now iconic moment, Israel Adesanya said:

"That moment, not just in a fight or my career, but one of the defining moments in my life where you find out what you're really made of, where you find out where you're willing to go to get what you want."

Adesanya's performance in this fight showed the world that he truly has the heart of a champion.