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Israel Adesanya (19-0) is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the most prolific strikers in all of MMA today.
"The Last Stylebender" boasts an impressive combat sports resume – having competed in 80 professional kickboxing bouts, six pro boxing matches, and 19 MMA fights.
The New Zealand-based martial arts stalwart, who was born in Nigeria, has proudly represented both his adopted nation as well as his country of birth on the global platform with a myriad of awe-inspiring performances across not one but three combat sports for more than a decade.
Israel Adesanya presently holds the UFC Middleweight Championship and is scheduled to defend it against fellow knockout artist Paulo “The Eraser” Costa (13-0) at UFC 253 on September 26th, 2020.
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While the former is revered as both a technically proficient volume striker as well as a creative KO artist, Costa is notorious for adopting a more high-risk yet equally effective striking strategy which has earned the latter significant success in knocking out all but two of his opponents.
In light of the aforementioned clash of terrifyingly talented knockout savants, today we examine some of the more intriguing aspects of reigning UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya’s striking.
Our following discussion has been condensed into five of Israel Adesanya’s most effective and interesting striking techniques.
#5 Israel Adesanya uses a diverse range of jabs
In case you, the reader, happen to be a striking coach or martial arts practitioner who’s experienced in a striking-based martial art; I can all but see you nodding your head in disagreement after having read my aforementioned assertion (it’s in the heading of this particular section; in case you missed it!) regarding Israel Adesanya’s jabs.
Rest assured; I concur with your disagreement. I’ll admit that a single article can’t possibly do justice to the wide range of jabs that Adesanya has utilized over the course of his long and storied career in the boxing, kickboxing, and MMA realms.
Nevertheless, if one were to describe Adesanya’s arsenal of jabs in a nutshell, it’d be best to break it down into a few important types for us to better understand them –
One ought to note that these jabs aren’t exclusively utilized by Adesanya and are indeed taught to most striking pupils in every decent striking-centric training institute around the world. Be that as it may, what makes Adesanya so special is the fact that he actually sticks to the basics and has always adhered to one of the cardinal rules of jabbing:
Never let a jab go in vain, even if it doesn’t connect! Feint, jab, connect, stick and move!
That brings us to one of the most important facets of his jab, the feints, which Adesanya uses in order to elicit a reaction from his opponent. Once they disengage from a given striking exchange, he subsequently uses the reactions so as to predict where his opponent will move in the ensuing striking exchanges.
Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Israel Adesanya’s all-time classic matchup against Kelvin Gastelum for the Interim UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 236 is an excellent example of the former’s masterful execution of the jab.
Adesanya used the low-powered probing jab, primarily in order to gauge the distance between him and Gastelum as well as to keep tagging the latter and resultantly out-point him.
Despite not planting his feet on the ground and adding power to the jabs, which needless to say made said jabs low-powered, the cumulative damage such strikes inflict upon one’s opponent is oftentimes criminally underrated.
Additionally, Adesanya was sagacious enough to mix things up not only with other punches such as straights when they faced off in opposite stances, crosses when both fought from the same stance (orthodox or southpaw), hooks, and uppercuts. He also attempted elbow strikes, kicks, and knees as well; all while maintaining good striking posture and discipline…
#4 Israel Adesanya has an excellent lead and rear hook.
Let’s turn to the world of professional boxing for a bit, shall we?
Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes the large majority of strikers make is that of swinging too wide with their hooks. Not everyone can be a Deontay Wilder and get away with throwing high-risk lead and rear hand hooks akin to what many boxing fans and pundits refer to as Wilder’s “windmill punching”.
In fact, even Wilder ultimately fell prey to his habit of swinging at his foes with wide hooks – nullifying the fact that the extension of one’s muscles and a greater range of movement does provide a slight impetus to the hook’s power.
Wilder’s rematch with Tyson Fury for the WBC Heavyweight Championship and The Ring Heavyweight Title saw the former get consistently countered owing to the windmill punches he threw.
Furthermore, as the damage inflicted by Fury’s high-volume striking added up, Wilder’s hooks proved to be his undoing.
Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker
In stark contrast to Wilder’s hooks, Israel Adesanya adheres to the traditional norms of boxing and maintains good punching form coupled with quick evasive movements after having thrown the hook.
Truth be told, Adesanya often throws a hook whilst already midway into a preemptive evasive maneuver – Case in point being Adesanya’s UFC Middleweight Title unification fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC 243.
The Last Stylebender dropped Whittaker with a perfectly timed rear hand hook (right hook from the orthodox stance) right at the buzzer marking the end of round 1.
In round 2, Adesanya followed it up with a few more rear hand hooks, before catching Whittaker with a brutal short lead hand hook (left hook from the orthodox stance), knocking down the latter and ending the fight via KO with a few follow-up strikes.
What made the stoppage victory so very impressive – apart from Adesanya’s brilliant footwork, timing, precision, and several other factors – was the fact that while Whittaker’s hooks seemed more powerful albeit wide, Adesanya’s shorter and seemingly less powerful hooks proved to be the game-changer.
It was a matter of speed and who connected first, rather than the individual power of the hooks. Adesanya’s short hooks have time and again helped him best most opponents’ wider and more powerful hooks…
#3 The Last Stylebender expertly disguises his kicks and knees.
What truly makes his kicks and knees so very effective is his proclivity for disguising them with punches; be it feints, low-powered jabs, straights, crosses, hooks, or uppercuts.
The only caveat in the feint, straight or any other strike Adesanya throws as a veil for the kick that’ll follow is that he moves after throwing the initial strike and then from the new position throws a kick at his opponent (who’s still playing catch up with the former as regards their respective positions vis-à-vis each other).
Israel Adesanya vs. Derek Brunson
In what was the biggest test of his MMA career at that point in time, Adesanya faced one of the most well-rounded fighters in the UFC Middleweight division Derek Brunson at UFC 230.
While Adesanya initially had to defend against several takedown attempts from Brunson, it wasn’t long before he managed to sneak in a knee that rocked Brunson.
What followed was a symphony of destruction, as Adesanya went on to rock and drop Brunson multiple times en route to a TKO victory in the very first round.
Although Brunson’s act of spamming takedowns without setting them up with strikes did make it relatively easy for Adesanya to catch him with a counter knee, it was Adesanya’s posturing and constant feints that masked the thunderous knee.
The Last Stylebender went on to stalk a visibly dazed Brunson, but continued masking his knees and kicks (including a thudding head kick) with punches…
#2 Israel Adesanya: “I don't throw and hope, I aim and fire!”
Former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor had once famously said: “Precision beats power and timing beats speed.”
Well, the reigning Undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya echoes McGregor’s sentiments. The former, akin to McGregor, has often emphasized that precision is paramount towards the success of a striker. Power alone isn’t enough!
On that note, Adesanya had notably (no pun intended) put forth a tweet, stating –
“I don't throw and hope, I aim and fire!”
Israel Adesanya and his kickboxing performances
Adesanya’s detractors have a penchant for highlighting his 2017 KO loss to Alex Pereira – A man who proved to be his nemesis during the former’s kickboxing career – A man who currently holds the GLORY Middleweight Championship as well as the GLORY Interim Light Heavyweight Title.
Adesanya emerged victorious in 75 of his 80 pro kickboxing bouts, with four of his losses coming via decision and only one coming by way of KO (the aforementioned loss to Pereira).
He’s previously lost via unanimous decision to Pereira in 2016, with the 2017 knockout loss, making Adesanya 0-2 against Pereira. Regardless, losing to Pereira isn’t something to be ashamed of – The Brazilian striker has been regarded as one of the best in the sport of kickboxing in recent years.
However, that’s beside the point. My intention behind harking back to Adesanya’s kickboxing losses to Pereira is to highlight the fact that in both fights Adesanya disregarded his own mantra -- “I don't throw and hope, I aim and fire!”.
Needless to say, it cost him dearly. That said, Adesanya learned from his mistakes, and has remained unwaveringly committed to his aforesaid mantra. Aim and fire…
#1 Israel Adesanya isn’t shy of using his marvelous footwork to stay out of harm’s way.
This one’s sure to crack you up…If you and I had a dime for every time we heard a fighter accuse his/her opponent of ‘running’, we’d probably be millionaires.
This hilarious accusation seems to have stood the test of time, as it’s used by fighters to this date! It’s generally the fighter that ends up losing on the judges’ scorecards who then complains about the opponent having ‘ran’ throughout the fight.
Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero
No; this isn’t a slight at Israel Adesanya or for that matter Yoel Romero’s performance in their UFC Middleweight Title matchup at UFC 248. And yes; Romero did accuse Adesanya for ‘running’ from him.
Irrespective of what certain sections of the combat sports community may opine about the fight, anyone who’s ever competed in a professional or amateur combat sports bout would likely attest to the fact that there are times when a fighter finds it nigh impossible to pull the trigger.
Both Adesanya and Romero seemed gun-shy in their aforementioned matchup but to their credit, the fact that both happened to be highly technical counter-strikers, greatly influenced the lackluster manner in which the fight played out.
Nevertheless, Adesanya displayed spectacularly smooth footwork in all five rounds of their fight. His impeccable footwork ensured that he steered clear of Romero’s famed one-strike KO power, whilst simultaneously sticking and moving; thereby outpointing the latter and successfully defending his UFC Middleweight Title via unanimous decision.
It wasn’t pretty however when up against a destructive KO artist like Romero, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Good footwork is arguably one of the most important yet underrated aspects of a fighter’s striking skill-set.
Which one of Israel Adesanya’s striking techniques do you think are the most impressive? Please feel free to share your views in the comments section below!
