From underestimating the UFC king – Rise of Israel Adesanya
picture: Israel Adesanya went from newcomer to middleweight champion in no time. He wants to make history at UFC 259. (© imago images / ZUMA Wire)
Ahead of UFC 259: Israel Adesanya, New UFC Superstar
When Israel Adesanya came to the UFC, he was already mocked as a Marvel.
Before his debut, he wasn’t trusted with the former kickboxer’s ability to survive the tough UFC world. An opponent who has good wrestling qualities will demotivate him through takedowns. What a mistake.
It took Adesanya about a year and a half to ascend the UFC throne. He has won all 9 of his UFC fights so far.
The 31-year-old Nigerian, who lives in New Zealand, is now a UFC shooting star and doesn’t want to shape anything other than an era.
He has the next opportunity on the first weekend of March, when he’s in UFC 259 Happen or occur.
Adesanya: Champion in three weight classes?
Israel Adesanya dominated the middleweight division for 2 years and is the absolute ruler of this weight class. Now he wants more – which is why he dares to jump into the UFC 259 Light Heavyweight Division.
But since he used to be at the top, he is not treating himself with a strong opponent, but for the reigning champion of Jan Blaovi..
This is the sixth time in UFC history that two champions from different weight classes have vied for the same title.
With victory, Adesanya will accomplish something historic: winning two titles in two different weight classes has only happened five times in the UFC.
And it is precisely in this prestigious club that “The Last Stylebender” wants to join him, who even dares to become a champion in three (!) Weight classes at the same time. Not at all in nearly three years.
The rise of UFC star Israel Adesanya:
It all began in 2018. “The Last Stylebender” celebrated his inaugural victory in the UFC big stage against Rob Wilkinson. He also won an award for “Night Performance”.
Four wins later – including against UFC superstar Anderson Silva – he was allowed to play in a temporary title battle against Kelvin Gastelum in April 2019 and he remained victorious there as well.
Adesanya achieved his dream goal on October 6, 2019 when he won the Golden Belt against Robert Whitaker. Just 18 months after his UFC debut!
He defended this title against Joel Romero in March 2020. For Adesanya, the most important victory of his career.
Against the Olympic silver medalist, his defensive skills have been put to the toughest test yet. Nevertheless, all prejudices were finally dispelled.
The mocked prodigy has become one of the hottest stars in the industry, earning the title of ‘Breakthrough Fighter of the Year’ in 2018 and ‘International Fighter of the Year’ in 2019.
Against Paulo Costa at UFC 253 He celebrated his ninth successive victory – as he won all of his UFC fights – and was able to defend his middleweight title for a second time.
In total, Adesanya now holds 20 MMA fights – and he won all of them, 15 of them by knockout.
Israel Adesanya – Height, Religion, Insta and Avatar
| homeland: | Adesanya was born in Nigeria. When he was ten years old, his parents immigrated to New Zealand via the United States |
| cartoons: | His nickname “The Last Stylebender” refers to the cartoon character “The Last Airbender.” |
| Dance: | Adesanya has been dancing since his youth |
| debt: | He does not practice any religion himself, but he values uniqueness in different religions |
| Instagram: | stylebander – Almost 3 million followers |
| Length Weight: | 1.94 m / 84 kg |
| Cash Prize: | In his last fight, Adesanya UFC’s benchmark was a whopping $ 500,000. In his career in the UFC, he now has about $ 2 million in prize money. |
| Debut UFC: | February 11, 2018 – Robert Wilkinson wins |
| Award: | Breakthrough Fighter of the Year (2018), Fighter of the Year (2019) |
Israel Adesanya Net Worth: UFC fee goes in the millions
His meteoric rise in the UFC world is also evident when looking at the Adesanya prize money.
For his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship against Robert Whitaker, the Adesanya prize money was only $ 50,000. For the interim title fight against Kelvin Gastelum a year later, Adesanya UFC fee has already increased to $ 350,000.
The last fight to date brought him a flat fee of $ 500,000 – and an additional $ 100,000 to defend his title.
It was rumored that the UFC 253 title fight against Paulo Costa was more lucrative.
This means that Adesanya belongs In the salaries of UFC fighters Now one of the top earners in the industry in terms of fixed fees!
Comedy, Dance, and Insta – UFC-Star Adesanya privat
The brave and seemingly indomitable fighter in the cage is one side of Israel Adesanya – the 31-year-old Nigerian who has five siblings, he is the eldest of them, but also has a special side: with animation, dancing and Instagram.
Dancing is one of his greatest preferences. He almost became a dancer, not a fighter.
How his good dance moves can be seen immediately ahead of UFC 243 against Yoel Romero while on the walk – pics spread with jumps and somersaults around the world.
He also likes to show these deposits online over and over again. Adesanya Instagramstylebander account already has nearly three million followers. Upward trend.
Adesanya dies dance moves
Dancing is one of my favorites, and storyboards are second for apparently shy Nigerians.
His fight name “The Last Stylebender” refers to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an anime-influenced animated series.
Adesanya has a picture of one of the main characters of the series, Toph Beifong, tattooed on his forearm.
Even Adesanya got into martial arts due to a movie. After watching Muay Thai “Ong-Bak”, he really wanted to start kickboxing. And that’s what he did – and that’s how he came to the UFC.
Even after his career, he wants to keep in touch with the animation genre. In an interview, Adesanya revealed that he wanted to start an animation production company after his martial arts career.
Adesanya should have earned enough money for this: Adesanya Prize funds are already several million US dollars.
This is important to Adesanya as much as he wants a lot back.
picture: Israel Adesanya and his gold belt for the middleweight title. Obtained it for the first time in October 2019. (© imago images / MediaPunch)
In his Nigerian homeland, he is involved in many social projects and for “people who do not do a good job like me and who are not as lucky as me”.
This is one of the reasons why he wanted to continue his UFC career a few more years and win as many titles as possible.
The first step would be to beat Blachowicz and the gold belt in the Light Heavyweight category. Then he targets the heavyweight. Nobody in UFC history has won three titles at the same time.
Until then, The Last Stylebender will dance on its opponents’ nose – in the truest sense of the word.