5 Israel Adesanya striking techniques

#3 The Last Stylebender expertly disguises his kicks and knees.

Israel Adesanya dominated Derek Brunson

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…