After losing his UFC Middleweight Title to Sean Strickland in the main event at UFC 293, we have decided to take a deep dive into the MMA career of Israel Adesanya. Read on to find out more about Israel Adesanya’s record, his record in UFC Title fights and how many knockouts he has.
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 26 professional MMA fights, winning all but three of them.
Adesanya’s career has been nothing short of magnificent to date. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has some huge wins in recent time in the UFC over the likes of Alex Pereira, the great Anderson Silva, Jared Cannonier, 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 a decade now. 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 pro MMA fighter before signing a deal with the UFC.
RELATED: Israel Adesanya Net Worth, Career Earnings & Endorsement Deals
Israel Adesanya 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. The Nigeria/New Zealand MMA superstar 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 after that. During this five fight run up to his maiden title shot, ‘Izzy’ won four fights via decision, with just one stoppage victory. The KO 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 occasions, knocking ‘Bobby Knuckles’ out cold in the second round of their fight. Adesanya was now the UFC Middleweight Champion.
His first title defense 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.
RELATED: Who Is Israel Adesanya’s Girlfriend?
Another two successful title defences came against Jared Cannonier and Robert Whittaker respectively, before fighting former kickboxing nemesis 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 in Florida.
However, Adesanya then lost his belt once again last time out against Sean Strickland in the main event at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia. Now, Adesanya will begin his quest at becoming a three-time UFC Middleweight king, looking to defeat Strickland in a rematch in 2024 if given the opportunity.
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.
The list of names the 34-year-old has defeated is simply incredible. Alex Pereira, Anderson Silva, Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero are just some of the stellar names Adesanya has defeated in his illustrious career to date.
Be sure to claim the various sports betting apps offers and UFC free bets available on the SportsLens site ahead of Adesanya’s next fight.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
