"Where was this in DDP fight?” - Fans amazed and stunned by Israel Adesanya’s slick grappling skills in recent training footage

Israel Adesanya is one of the best MMA fighters in history. Furthermore, he is among the most skillful strikers to grace the sport. The former two-time middleweight champion has competed in boxing, kickboxing, and MMA and holds a combined record of 104-11 across the three combat sports.

Given his striking acumen, many MMA fans believed that the undoing of Adesanya would come against an elite grappler. However, 'The Last Stylebender' was able to use his underappreciated grappling skills to keep many of his fights on the feet.

After being submitted for the first time in his career by Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305, it appears that Adesanya may be spending more time focusing on his grappling skillset.

He recently trained alongside fellow UFC fighter Michael 'Venom' Page, with the duo being guided by grappling coach Ozzy Dugulubgov. During his training, Adesanya successfully performed a slick spinning guard pass, which caught the eye of fans.

The former champion uploaded the footage to Instagram, writing this:

"Fast transition."

Check out Israel Adesanya's post below:

Fans took to the comment section of the post to share their praise for the 35-year old, with one fan writing this:

"Where was this in DDP fight? Pls Izzy I want to see you win."

Another fan wrote:

"Israel Adesanmedov"

See the fan reactions below:

Screenshot of fan reactions to Adesanya's grappling footage

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Israel Adesanya reacts to Alex Pereira losing to Magomed Ankalaev

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira share one of the greatest rivalries across any combat sport. Having faced off against each other four times, they know one another as well as any fighter could know their opponent.

Pereira currently competes in the UFC's light heavyweight division, winning the title in 2023 before defending it three times in 2024. The Brazilian's first title clash of 2025 came against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.

With Ankalaev declaring before the bout that he would stand and strike with 'Poatan', arguably the sport's most feared striker, fans were eager to see if the title challenger could find success in the striking realm.

The Dagestani was able to halt Pereira's attacks with success not seen before at 205 pounds and was crowned the new champion after winning via unanimous decision.

Following the result, Adesanya shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel, saying this:

"49-46? What was that? [Ankalaev] dropped him, won Round 2. The holding, he didn’t really do much with the holding. What a stupid game we play... I had Alex winning."

Check out Israel Adesanya's reaction below (11:05):