“You see me, I’m objective and I’m honest about my assessment of my performance and I know what I have to do to get better.”- Israel Adesanya.
After making his UFC debut less than a year ago, 29years old Nigerian-born Isreal Adesanya nicknamed “the Style Bender” left UFC boss Dana White, and some Hollywood stars who were sitting octagon side in shock following his dominance of Silva in the three-round fight, which earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Israel Mobolaji Adesanya (born 22 July 1989) is a Nigerian-New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and boxer. He is the former Glory middleweight contender winner and King in the Ring two-time cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, which is the most titles in King in the Ring history. He has also competed as a cruiserweight in boxing.
The Nigerian-born fighter was a victim of bullying when growing up. He began to talk to himself as if trying to uplift someone else, and it became a self-appreciating ritual for him, one he still uses.
Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He trained taekwondo for a brief time in his youth but was removed by his mother after breaking his arm. At the age of 13, he moved to Rotorua, New Zealand and attended Rotorua Intermediate.
He started training in kickboxing at age 18 after being inspired by the Muay Thai film Ong-Bak and went on to amass an amateur kickboxing record of 32-0 prior to moving and fighting in China.
Fighting in Hong Kong, Australia, and China over the next years, he amassed a record of 11-0 with all wins coming via KO/TKO. At the age of 21, Adesanya relocated to Auckland, New Zealand and began training at City Kickboxing with other established fighter.
Adesanya started his MMA career in 2012 and, in 2017, he won both the Australian Fighting Championship and Hex Fight Series Middleweight Championships, holding both titles simultaneously before vacating them to sign with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
In 2018, he made his UFC debut at UFC 221, he defeated Rob Wilkinson via technical knockout in the second round, which was awarded performance of the night.
His next fight was scheduled on April 14, 2018, against Marvin Vettori, He won the fight via split decision.
Adesanya faced Anderson Silva on February 10, 2019, at UFC 234. The Nigerian-born Adesanya has left everyone impressed in the UFC octagon as he out-pointed Brazilian UFC legend Anderson Silva with Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Chris Hemsworth sitting octagon side at Rod Laver Arena.
He won the fight via unanimous decision 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Late last year Israel Adesanya made an open declaration that he would be the UFC champion by 2019, taking steps in that direction Adesanya is number 6 in official UFC middleweight rankings as of February 2019, winning four fight-night bonus awards in five UFC contests.
“If I’m playing basketball this is like playing Michael Jordan,” Israel Adesanya said after his win as Silva was one of his Idols.
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