Senaste nytt
Ranking all of Israel Adeanya’s UFC fights from worst to best
This weekend Israel ”The Last Stylebender” Adesanya made UFC history, so there is no better time to do a ranking of all his fights in the promotion!
In the main event at UFC 287 Adesanya knocked out his arch rival Alex Pereira, reclaiming the middleweight title and becoming the first two-time UFC middleweight champion. Adesanya now has a whopping fifteen fights in the UFC and we’ve decided to rank them all.
Obviously this list is based on personal taste and we welcome individual rankings from our lovely readers!
15: UFC 248: Israel Adesanya vs Yoel Romero
There’s no getting around it: Israel Adesanyas UFC 248 main event against Yoel Romero is not just the worst fight of ”The Last Stylebenders” career, it’s one of the worst UFC fights in modern times. It was more of an aggressive staring contest with fakes and feints than an actual fight.
Not only was the fight built up as a collision between two world class strikers, but it followed the legendary battle between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili. While living up to that co-main event was an impossible task, Adesanya vs Romero was just lackluster and boring with neither fighter being willing to engage. The fight was incredibly frustrating for everyone involved, those watching, those commentating and even the two men competing for the title.
It’s an all time stinker of a fight, simple as that.
14: UFC 276: Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier
While this is marginally better than the previous entry, Adesanyas fifth consecutive title defense against Jared Cannonier was also a slog to get through.
Adesanya does, however, get an unreasonable amount of criticism for this fight, as it takes two to tango and Cannonier simply wasn’t willing to engage. After all, he was the title challenger, the onus was on him to snatch the title from the reigning champ.
That doesn’t make the fight any better, however, it was still about as exciting as waiting in line at the post office (remember those?). Adesanyas entrance was pretty cool, though, much cooler than anything Cannonier accomplished in the fight.
13: UFC 263: Israel Adesanya vs Marvin Vettori 2
The somewhat anticipated rematch between Adesanya and ”The Italian Dream” Marvin Vettori wasn’t bad, but it did underperform relative to many fans’ expectations. Their first meeting was close, but Adesanya had improved exponentially heading into their rematch, firmly established as the best middleweight in the world.
Much of the fault lies on Vettori, who spent much of the fight either eating kicks at range or unsuccessfully trying to take Adesanya down against the cage – something that is proven to be very difficult (we’ll get back to that later on in the ranking).
Adesanya pieced Vettori up on the feet, did a great job at managing distance and even clowned his opponent by grabbing his butt while simultaneously successfully defending the takedown. Vettori seemed confused (shocking, right?) and Adesanya comfortably won every single round.
Hardly an all-time great fight, not a terrible fight either. A display of dominance that lacked the big moments that make a fight great.
12: UFC 221: Rob Wilkinson vs Israel Adesanya
Adesanyas UFC debut against Rob Wilkinson was a great showing from the future champion as he proved to be a fantastic prospect to keep an eye on.
Barely taking any damage Adesanya spent much of the first round defending takedowns, landing strikes with lightning quick efficiency whenever separated. The tide began turning quite quickly and Adesanya slowly broke down his opponent like a storm breaking apart a dilapidated house.
The somewhat slow first round does bring down the overall fight, but the finish hung in the air in the second round, Adesanya found it and secured the first of many UFC wins. The win has aged incredibly well too, as Wilkinson is undefeated since the bout with Adesanya, winning seven straight fights as well as the PFL title.
11 UFC on FOX 29: Israel Adesanya vs Marvin Vettori 1
This was Adesanyas first proper test in the UFC and Vettori was a game opponent who definitely had his moments. Looking back, though, the fight wasn’t quite as close as many fans remembered it and the split decision may not have been that warranted.
The fight was technical but still had blitzes of excitement, fun striking exchanges and Adesanya re-enacting some of the best moments from the 1999 classic The Matrix.
It was a fun fight between two rising middleweight prospects, the start of a rivalry and a sign of things to come in the career of ”The Last Stylebender”.
10: UFC 253: Israel Adesanya vs Paulo Costa
Everyone likes a good TKO finish but unfortunately Adesanyas fight with rival Paulo Costa didn’t quite live up to expectations.
Costa talked a big game and was a red-hot, undefeated knockout artist that was about as hyped up as a contender could be heading in the UFC 253 main event. If Costas fighting had lived up to his taste in red wine then maybe it would have been a different story. The build up was fantastic, and the fight was fine, but lacked the sense of danger that would have elevated it.
While Costa felt flat like stale wine that had been left out in the sun, Adesanya packed the punch of a shot of Tequila, winning via second round TKO and giving the UFC middleweight division it’s first ”Me Too” moment.
9: UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz vs Israel Adesanya
We’re starting to get to the good stuff now with this next entry as Adesanya dared to be great, moving up a division to challenge then champion Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title.
While hardly high up on the list Blachowicz vs Adesanya is far from a bad fight, however it is somewhat more interesting and technical than nail-bitingly intense. It’s still a very good fight, though. The stakes were huge as a true superfight and both fighters dished it out just as good as they took it.
Adesanya certainly had his moments and he definitely upheld a championship level. The fight was reasonably close, but it ended up being one of the best performances in Blachowicz’s career – at the expense of ”The Last Stylebender”. Blachowicz showed that Adesanyas takedown defense in the center of the cage was weaker than that up against the cage and put on intense pressure, forcing the middleweight champ back.
Blachowicz ended up winning four out of five rounds on all judges scorecards, giving Adesanya his first ever MMA defeat. A good, exciting, technical fight between two of the pound-for-pound best in the UFC at the time, what’s not to love?
8: UFC 243: Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesaya
It might be somewhat controversial not having this fight in the top five, but the circumstances surrounding the fight were almost better than the fight itself.
Following his now legendary interim title winning bout, Adesanya was the hottest fighter in the UFC, and he definitely had an air of invicibility as he made his way to Marvel Stadium in a title unification with Robert Whittaker.
Adesanyas walk in to the cage is about as iconic as they come, and he lived up to his nick name during the fight, styling on a hapless Whittaker – who didn’t quite seem himself.
That’s kind of the issue with the fight, it was a little too one-sided and Whittaker was definitely not at his best. It may be Adesanyas finest performance, but that’s not the same thing as his best fight.
This was a seminal moment in modern UFC history, it marked the start of a new era, the number eight spot on this list, but hardly the best fight of Adesanyas career
7: UFC 287: Pereira vs Adesanya 2
Recency bias may be a factor here, but there is something so cinematic about the second MMA fight between arch rivals Adesanya and Alex Pereira that feels at home in a Hollywood film.
Battling back from adversity is the true mark of a champion. Adesanyas would face his greatest combat sports rival for a fourth time, having lost each previous fight. His back was up against the wall as he faced what is more or less Jason Voorhees from the Amazon.
One couldn’t have scripted a better rivalry or build up to this heated rematch.
A tense, close first round kept fans on the edge of their seats and things truly began heating up in the second round. In true Hollywood fashion, just when it seemed like Pereira was taking over the fight with Adesanya pressed up against the cage (where he was knocked out previously), ”The Last Stylebender” fired back a hellacious right hand and eventually finished his boogey man, reclaiming the title.
While fact is sometimes stranger than fiction, reality can be more cinematic than the movies.
6: UFC 281: Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira
Anything can happen in MMA, that’s why we love it! While the finish of the UFC 287 main event is the stuff dreams (and Hollywood scripts) are made of, the first fight between Adesanya and Pereira was better.
The first fight gave the fans one of the best build ups to a bout in Adesanyas career, a fight that was 1-1 heading into the third, and delivered a shocking upset in the final round.
The Empire Strikes Back is often seen as superior to The Return of the Jedi as the bad guys win, testing our heroes and forcing them to pull themselves up and get stronger (if you don’t understand that Star Wars reference then it’s your own damned fault). Similarly, the first MMA fight between Adesanya and Pereira would see that ”bad guy” get a shocking victory, playing spoiler to ”The Last Stylebenders” role as hero.
The comeback may have been greater than the setback, but this first fight was just so impactful and forced Adesanya to confront the biggest adversity he had ever faced.
5: The Ultimate Fighter 27 finale: Brad Tavares vs Israel Adesanya
This might be the most underrated fight of Adesanays career. Sure, it doesn’t have the 80’s action film feel of the number one spot, but the Nigerian-Kiwis five round scrap with game hawaiian Brad Tavares is undoubtedly very enjoyable, fast-paced, the first UFC main event of Adesanyas career as well as serving as his coming out party.
Tavares is a proven commodity, hard-nosed, willing to engage and about as tough as they come in the division. He put it on Adesanya early, who adapted to his opponents onslaught brilliantly, displaying fantastic scrambling ability and takedown defense, while also landing nice strikes at a distance.
The fight earned Adesanya a performance bonus despite him not getting the finish, which is quite telling. Credit to Tavares for not relenting, even when outclassed on the feet. He pushed Adesanya in the best possible way in a fight that brought out the best of the current middleweight champ, and also a fight that sadly doesn’t get the love it deserves, which is a shame because it’s a blast!
4: UFC 230: Derek Brunson vs Israel Adesanya
I can see the criticism now: ”Previous one-sided fights weren’t as high up on the list because of the lack of high-level competition. Why is this fight then in the top five, you clickbait-writing, pretentious, nerdy jerk?”
OK, the insult is unnecessary (though highly accurate), but let me explain.
Keeping with the cinematic, Rocky-esque tone that we’ve already established: This fight was the storybook ending to the first film. Adesanya was flown out to New York City to face the hardened wrestler Derek Brunson. On paper Brunson was a stylistic nightmare for Adesanya and the perfect fighter to test if the phenom from Down Under was the real deal.
Adesanya passed the test with flying colours. It was a home run, a slam dunk, a touchdown, a hole in one, a whatever is a good thing in tennis, a…Zlatan style bicicleta?
The fight itself, the walk in, the post fight interview, the venue (Madison Square Garden, does it get more movie-like?), everything was perfect. This was just the star-making performance fans had hoped for.
3: UFC 271: Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker 2
This might be a controversially high placement for a fight that went the distance, is seen as very technical and is, unfortunately, criminally overlooked. Some may not at all agree with this placement and complaints are welcome at imcheifeditornotyou@frontkick.online.
A true champion is only as good as their level of competition. While Pereira may be Adesanyas overall combat sports arch rival, Whittaker is undoubtedly his MMA rival on a technical, stylistic level.
Heading into the rematch Whittaker was unquestionably the second best middleweight in the UFC (and possible Earth). Like any good fight (or roller coaster) the rematch had unexpected twists and turns, drops and ascensions. Adesanya dropped Whittaker in the first round and it seemed as if the rematch would be a one-sided repeat of their first fight.
However Whittaker battled his way back into the fight, landing several takedowns and hard strikes, putting on the pressure and doing his best at evading the vicious counters from ”The Last Stylebender”. Whittaker showed the heart of a champion but Adesanya didn’t fret, and had an answer for almost everything that was thrown at him. These two rivals fought tooth and nail, both fighters landing good strikes and each showing the best of their capabilities.
Seeing two of the best in the world compete against each other across five, technical yet exciting rounds is about as good as it gets. There are even those who would argue that Whittaker won three out of five rounds.
Regardless, this is what high-level MMA is all about, and one of Adesanyas best fights ever.
2: UFC 234: Israel Adesanya vs Anderson Silva
This fight had everything except for two additional rounds that it unquestionably deserved. When Adesanya was booked to face his hero, former middleweight king and legend Anderson Silva it was supposed to be in the co-main event of UFC 234. However an acute health issue forced Robert Whittaker out of his planned title defense, making Adesanya vs Silva the new main event.
While the fight was, in essence, a passing of the guard, the fight was much more competitive than some had given the match up credit for. Silva put on one of the best performances of his post-champ career, which in turn brought out the best of Adesanya.
There was a playful element to the fight, but the middleweights weren’t high fiving several times per round. The air of respect between the two was broken up time and time again by fantastic striking techniques that seemed to be taken straight out of a classic Bruce Lee film.
The fight had everything (again, except those two additional main event rounds), gave the fans everything they wanted and cemented Adesanya as a true star in the UFC.
1: UFC 236: Kelvin Gastelum vs Israel Adesanya
How could the number one spot be anything other than the five round war for the interim middleweight championship between Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum?
Before this fight we all knew that Adesanya was a hot prospect with fantastic, exotic striking. But this was the fight that proved that he had the guts, heart and chin of a champion.
In what is now a modern classic of a fight, Adesanya and Gastelum fought as if their lives depended on it (something Adesanya would go on to reference). Both fighters rocked the other, the tide of battle accompanied by the raucous roar of the crowd as the momentum swayed like the pendulum on the worlds most violent clock.
While the term ”epic” is quite overused, it may not even be sufficient in describing the moment before the fifth and final round when Adesanya looked at Gastelum and said ”I’m willing to die”. I get chills just thinking about it.
Sadly Gastelums career was never the same following this five round war but Adesanya emerged as the victor, not just living up to the hype but exceeding any and all expectations laid upon him.
This is the best fight of Adesanyas career, and also one of the best in UFC history.
What did you think of our ranking of all Israel Adesanya fights in the UFC? How would you rank his fights?
Subscribe to Frontkick.online on YouTube for the best MMA and Muay Thai videos in Scandinavia, make sure to follow us on Instagram for the latest news and updates and check out our sister site Maximum Sports YouTube channel for premium Swedish martial arts content! !