What do you get when you have a generational athlete who was inspired to study martial arts by Anderson Silva‘s flashy exploits inside of the Octagon, mix him with the marketing ability of a millennial influencer, and give him some of the best takedown defense a kickboxer has ever had in the UFC? Answer: New Zealand’s Israel “The Stylebender” Adesanya.
Since entering the UFC at the beginning of 2018, every one of Izzy’s battles inside the cage has been an event. This potential blink-and-you’ll-miss-it affair has kept fans on the edge of their seats, which propelled Izzy to become one of the most beloved fighters in modern history.
Entering the UFC with a perfect 11-0 record and a resume boasting wins over some of the best kickboxers in the world (but 0-2 against Alex Peireira, which will be revisited), Izzy’s hype was real. He didn’t look out of place, as some prolific strikers do in the UFC. There was a time back around UFC 100 when standup fighters were constantly being put on their backs inside the Octagon. Still, this new generation of fighters, with Izzy at the forefront, were showcasing excellent takedown defense and even submission skills off their backs. His first four opponents in the UFC, Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares, and Derek Brunson – an impressive group whom he beat all within the 2018 calendar year, did their best to try to take him down. Still, Izzy was simply better, stronger, and faster and was able to keep them at bay and earn three performance of the night bonuses in those first four fights.
2018 Topps UFC Museum Collection #42 Israel Adesanya RC
With a title shot on the horizon, Adesanya entered 2019 even more focused and with his skills sharp. He started the year with a fight against the man who inspired him to start fighting – Anderson Silva – just one day and one year removed from his UFC debut. In a thrilling Fight of the Night bonus-winning match, he defeated his hero and proved he was ready for the big time and bright lights. Less than two months later, he would defeat Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title. You’d be hard-pressed to choose a better fight in 2019, with multiple outlets calling the back-and-forth match Fight of the Year.
After six months of healing, Adesanya unified the middleweight title by knocking out the extremely tough Robert Whittaker in the second round. He made it look easy. With this, the Izzy Age would begin.
His first title defense would come against the fearsome Yoel Romero—a man who could finish anyone anytime and anywhere. The fight is controversial in its lack of activity and is by far the Izzy fight with the least action, but one could chalk this up to a cerebral play by the champ from New Zealand to not get caught by a knockout artist with Olympic wrestling credentials.
After the Romero fiasco, vintage Izzy would return to put on a show against Paulo Costa, chopping his lead leg down and then finishing him in the second round at UFC 253 with a barrage of punches and elbows. With the division all but cleaned out, the middleweight would move up to light heavyweight to take on light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz in an attempt to become one of the hallowed few to win a title in multiple divisions – and one of even fewer to hold two belts at the same time.
2020 Topps UFC Knockout Jumbo Fight Mat Relic Auto #IA Israel Adesanya
It didn’t go how he planned. The bigger, stronger Blachowicz would take Izzy down with ease, hold him, and ground and pound him into a relatively easy decision victory. This was Adesanya’s first loss in the UFC and his MMA career. It was time to move back down to where he belonged and defend the middleweight title.
First, he would defeat Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 again, then edge out a close win over Robert Whittaker in a thrilling rematch at UFC 271 eight months later. Five months later, he’d outpoint the formidable Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. The table was set for him to take on his old kickboxing rival, Alex Peirara, who had been running roughshod over Israel’s division.
Adesanya would lose to Peirera again. Even if the stoppage was questionable by Izzy’s standards, there was no denying that this heated rivalry turned red-hot. Adesanya wanted a win over Peirera seemingly more than anything in the world after going 0-2 against him in kickboxing and 0-1 in MMA. He would get an immediate rematch just under six months later at UFC 287 and would perform one of the greatest counter-punch knockouts in the history of the UFC. The Stylebender was back on top. But it wouldn’t last long.
2024 Topps Midnight UFC #67 /75 Israel Adesanya
Enter the unorthodox Sean Strickland, who entered the match on a three-fight winning streak, out-striking and outworking nearly every opponent he encountered (except Alex Peirera, who knocked him out, and Cannonier, who barely out-pointed him). Strickland’s upright Muay Thai/Boxing and defensive wrestling style confounded the usually mathematic Izzy, who was simply outclassed on that Saturday night in his loss at UFC 293.
This doesn’t mean Adesanya’s out of the title picture – after Strickland lost his title to innovative South African striker Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, the match was set – Izzy would return at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. The fight was exciting, with Izzy winning multiple rounds until DDP caught him with a brilliant combo, stunning the former champ who would have his back taken. DDP would sink in a rear-naked choke, and it was over in the fourth. The former champ lost 3 out of his last four in another classic fight deserving of its own Topps card.
