Israel Adesanya

Overview

Nine straight UFC wins to open his career, and a four-fight losing streak into his next one. Israel Adesanya's UFC record is 13-6, and the gap between those two stretches is the whole story.

"The Last Stylebender" fights at middleweight out of City Kickboxing, was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and works from a switch stance. He debuted in February 2018 and went 9-0 before Jan Blachowicz beat him on the scorecards. The most recent fight on his record is a loss, and he carries that four-fight streak forward.

UFC Career

The early run was clean. He opened with a second-round TKO of Rob Wilkinson, then took a split decision over Marvin Vettori in April 2018. Wins over Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson followed before the competition jumped.

Between February 2019 and March 2020, he beat four elite opponents in a row: Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum on decision, Robert Whittaker by second-round TKO, and Yoel Romero over five rounds. Paulo Costa fell by second-round TKO in September 2020 to make it nine straight.

Jan Blachowicz ended it by unanimous decision in March 2021. Adesanya answered with decision wins over Vettori in a rematch, Whittaker in a rematch and Jared Cannonier, all five-rounders.

Then Alex Pereira stopped him in the fifth round at UFC 281 (2:01). Adesanya won the rematch by TKO in round two. That is the last win on his record. After it came a decision loss to Sean Strickland, a fourth-round submission loss to Dricus Du Plessis, and knockout losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Joe Pyfer. Both of those ended in round two, the Imavov fight at 0:30.

Nine wins to start, four losses to finish. Both are on the record.

Fighting Style

Adesanya is a busy striker who is hard to hit. He lands more than most UFC fighters and takes less in return, and his defense is a real strength. His accuracy is about the UFC average, so his edge comes from output and defense rather than pinpoint precision.

He rarely looks for takedowns or submissions, and he is very hard to take down. He is a striker who stays on his feet. The one submission on his UFC record is a loss, to Du Plessis.

His finishing pattern is specific. Five of his 13 UFC wins came by KO/TKO, four of them in round two and only one in round one. The other eight went to the scorecards.

Notable Wins

• Robert Whittaker — KO/TKO, round 2 (3:33), UFC 243 (2019)
• Alex Pereira — KO/TKO, round 2 (4:21), UFC 287 (2023)
• Anderson Silva — unanimous decision, UFC 234 (2019)
• Yoel Romero — unanimous decision, five rounds, UFC 248 (2020)

Quick Facts

• Division: Middleweight
• UFC record: 13-6
• Professional record (all promotions): 24-6-0
• UFC debut: 2018
• Stance: Switch
• Height: 6'4", reach: 80"
• Team: City Kickboxing
• Born: Lagos, Nigeria