UFC
Israel Adesanya Boasts Impressive 24-5 Record With 16 KO Wins & 7 UFC Middleweight Title Fight Victories
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As a two-time UFC Middleweight Champion and one of the most accomplished fighters of the past decade, us as we dissect the Israel Adesanya record in MMA and the UFC.
This includes his record in UFC Title fights and how many knockouts he has on his complete MMA resumé.
Israel Adesanya Record
Israel Adesanya turned professional back in 2012 with a debut knockout victory against James Griffiths in Auckland, New Zealand. Since then, Adesanya has had another 28 professional MMA fights, winning all but five of them.
Adesanya’s career has been nothing short of magnificent to date. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has some huge wins in the UFC over the likes of Robert Whittaker twice, Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero, Kelvin Gastelum, Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori to name but a few.
There is no question that Israel Adesanya is one of the most entertaining and skilful fighter on the UFC roster, as well as being one of the most likeable characters in all of MMA. His career up to now has been sensational, and he still has some huge nights left before he hangs his gloves up.
As previously mentioned, Israel Adesanya made his professional MMA debut over 12 years ago. He was on an Supremacy Fighting Championship 9 card where he made the perfect start to his career by winning via first round knockout.
Adesanya then had 10 more fights as a professional MMA fighter before g a deal with UFC President Dana White to fight in his elite MMA organisation. The rest as they say is history.
The Nigeria/New Zealand MMA superstar has literally fought everyone in the UFC. He has fought every single fighter in and around the middleweight division, as well as trying his luck up at light-heavyweight in the past too.
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The Israel Adesanya UFC Record Solidifies ‘The Last Stylebender’ As An All-Time Great
Israel Adesanya won his first UFC fight, defeating Rob Wilkinson at UFC 221, winning the fight via TKO in Round 2 in Perth, Australia. After that debut victory in the UFC, Adesanya won his next five fights before then fighting for the UFC Middleweight Title.
During this five fight run up to his maiden title shot, ‘Izzy’ won four fights via decision, with just one stoppage victory. The knockout came against Derek Brunson, with decision wins over Anderson Silva, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares and Kelvin Gastelum for the Interim Title.
His first shot at UFC gold came against reigning champion and fellow New Zealander Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019. ‘The Last Stylebender’ certainly rose to the occasion, knocking ‘Bobby Knuckles’ out cold in Round 2 of their 185-pound UFC Title fight.
Adesanya’s first UFC Middleweight Title defence was a successful one against Yoel Romero, winning via unanimous decision. Then came his grudge match against Brazil’s Paulo Costa, who Adesanya knocked out in two rounds at UFC 253. Then came the first defeat of Adesanya’s MMA career.
The 1989-born MMA superstar dared to be great, stepping up to light-heavyweight in an attempt to become a two-weight simultaneous UFC champion. He fell short against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, losing via decision.
However, he quickly bounced back with a win back down at 185-pounds over Marvin Vettori in his third title defence at UFC 262.
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Israel Adesanya’s Fight Record Consists Of 7 UFC Middleweight Title Wins
Another two successful title defences came against Jared Cannonier and Alex Pereira.
‘Poatan’ shocked the world by knocking Adesanya out in the fifth round of their fight at UFC 281, snatching the UFC Middleweight Title from Adesanya and handing him just the second defeat of his entire career.
However, it didn’t take long for Adesanya to win back his title. In the rematch with Alex Pereira, Adesanya put in arguably the best performance of his career, knocking the Brazilian out in the second round in the main event at UFC 287.
Adesanya then lost his belt for the second time as Dricus du Plessis in an all-African battle.
This time Adesanya couldn’t quite regain his title, losing back-to-back fights for the first time in his career. Du Plessis submitted Adesanya in Round 4, leaving the New Zealand/Nigeria MMA superstar with a long road back to the top of the middleweight division.
Adesanya’s last contest also resulted in defeat, as he was stopped in Round 2 by Nassourdine Imavov after looking really sharp in the first round. Whether or Adesanya makes another return remains to be seen, or if he could well retire for good.
That takes us up to now in the career of Israel Adesanya. There is no doubt that ‘Izzy’ is one of the best 185-pound fighters in the world. Not only that, but he is always in remarkable fights and is undoubtedly the most entertaining fighter at middleweight.
Be sure to claim the various UFC Israel Adesanya’s next fight.