The biggest star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship after McGregor? Before UFC 276: Everything you need to know about Israel Adesanya – Athletic Mix
13 UFC fights in just four years – Israel Adesanya (32) quickly won the hearts of fans.
Saturday night groups at Adesanya UFC 276 Fifth middleweight to defend the title. The Nigerian-born fighter now has the second-largest defense of his weight class ever, behind legend Anderson Silva. What else do you want to know about the previous kickboxer? What is behind his creative fighting style? And why does Eazy have the coolest cage enema in sports? BILD provides the answers.
At the age of ten, Adesanya moved with his family from Nigeria to New Zealand, where he fell in love with martial arts. Majnoon: A movie that started the fight. “I remember watching the movie Ong-Bank with Tony Jaa. He did all these crazy things, it was so cool. Since then, I’ve wanted to be a fighter,” he explains.
Before Adesanya became the UFC World Champion, he knocked his opponents onto the carpet in kickboxing. 75 wins and 48 knockouts is an amazing record at the end of his kickboxing career. Then in 2018 he debuted at UFC.
characteristics
Full name: Israel Mobolaji Odunayo Oluwafemi Temitayo Owolabi Adesanya
date of Birth: July 22, 1989
place of birth: Lagos, Nigeria
Battle name: Latest Stylebender
Weight class: medium weight
MMA pro since: 2012
Size: 193 cm
Domain: 203 cm
MMA record: 22 wins – 1 loss
Knockout wins: 15th
his way to the top
In April 2018, “The Last Stylebender” entered the UFC octagon for the first time. Thanks to the narrow point decision, he beat Marvin Vittori (28), who will meet for the second time in the cage years later. In his first PPV main fight, he defeated UFC legend Anderson Silva (47), the fight was like moving a torch. Because: Adesanya is a huge fan of Silva, he cried emotionally several times before the fight. He wore his first UFC gold almost the day after his debut in the organization, defeating Kelvin Gastelum (30) in a thrilling five-round fight.
McGregor did it, Adesanya failed: the attempt to win a second belt in the heavyweight category failed in favor of Adesanya. In front of former champion Jan Bachovich (39) he had to admit defeat in five rounds – his only defeat so far.
I want to write history, create moments and be a legend. If I do what I do, the money will flow.
Dancing required for cage fights?
In middleweight, Izzy remained on the throne, having defended his belt four times. What makes a caged hero so dangerous? Fast grip, brutal kicks, funky moves. And the secret ingredient: dance. “A friend from school taught me how to dance. Since then, I’ve been hanging out with the dancers, they taught me new moves and I copied them,” says Adesanya, “The things that make me special as a fighter, which are the sport and the rhythm, are perfectly in line with the dance.”
Interesting: Adesanya does not only dance in the octagon. During enemas in his cage, he always rehearses special performances – with great dances.
Miscellaneous
► Over 57,000 spectators watched Adesanya win the UFC title against Robert Whitaker (31) at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia – The only attendance record.
► In 2020, he became the first MMA fighter to sign a sponsorship from Puma.
► Adesanya holds the record for most knockouts in a title fight ever (4).
► Anime characters tattoo: Adesanya is a big fan of anime. His favorite show is Avatar, which is where his nickname, The Last Stylebender comes from.
► Kickboxing, mixed martial arts and even boxing: From 2014 to 2015, Adesanya entered the boxing ring six times and was able to win five times.
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