UFC 243: A look at Israel Adesanya's rise to the top

#5 Capturing the gold – UFC 236

Adesanya's war with Kelvin Gastelum was one of the UFC's all-time greatest title fights

When it was confirmed that following the injury that removed him from UFC 234, Middleweight champ Robert Whittaker would be out of action for an extended period of time, it made perfect sense for the UFC to introduce one of their patented Interim titles – matching Israel Adesanya, now the top contender, against the man who was supposed to face Whittaker – the red-hot Kelvin Gastelum – to decide the new titleholder.

The fight was set for UFC 236 in April, and like with many of his past fights, Adesanya came in as an underdog in the eyes of many fans. Gastelum had only been beaten once since moving to 185 lbs in 2016, and he’d beaten the likes of Jacare Souza, Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort along the way.

The winner of 2013’s TUF 17 tournament, Gastelum had bricks for hands and arguably the best grappling game Adesanya had faced in his UFC tenure.

If everyone was expecting Adesanya to be given his toughest fight to date, they weren’t proven otherwise. Gastelum came out looking to strike, and after Adesanya had some success from the outside, Gastelum became the first man to really hit him cleanly – knocking him down with a left hand.

Adesanya was able to recover, but the shot set the tone for the fight; Adesanya was able to snipe at Gastelum from the outside, hurting him on numerous occasions, but when Gastelum was able to wade forward, he was clearly capable of catching the Stylebender cleanly and hurting him too.

By the time the fourth round ended, not only was it clear that the fifth round would decide the victor – but it was also clear that we were witnessing one of the all-time great UFC title fights.

And in that fifth round, Adesanya treated everyone to something special; he proved that he had everything it takes to be a genuine UFC champion. Gastelum had shown he was easily the toughest opponent the Stylebender had ever faced – but in that fifth round, Adesanya simply took him apart with an amazing striking display, and by the end it was anyone’s guess as to what was keeping Gastelum vertical as Adesanya hit him with combination after combination, finally dropping him in the waning seconds.

Gastelum was able to survive, but despite putting on a tremendous performance himself, after the final round it was clear who the fight belonged to. Adesanya was given the nod by all three judges, who also saw fit to give him a 10-8 fifth round – a ridiculous accomplishment given the back-and-forth action in the previous four – making him the UFC’s interim Middleweight champion.

Will Adesanya’s journey to the top see him reach the pinnacle against Whittaker this weekend? Only time will tell – but judging on his previous fights, he’s already well on his way to becoming an all-time great in the Octagon.