Israel Adesanya

From kickboxing to the UFC

Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya is a Nigerian-born, New Zealand-raised kickboxer who carried a 75-5 K-1 record into mixed martial arts and became the UFC middleweight champion in October 2019. He held the title across two reigns — October 2019 to November 2022 (lost to Alex Pereira via TKO at UFC 281), and April 2023 to September 2023 (regained the belt via KO of Pereira at UFC 287, lost it to Sean Strickland via unanimous decision at UFC 293).

His MMA record stands at 24-4 — a fighter whose losses are entirely to elite competition: Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight (a one-time experiment that ended in a unanimous decision loss), Alex Pereira (the second loss in their lifelong rivalry — Pereira beat Adesanya three times in kickboxing as well), Sean Strickland (the upset decision), and Dricus du Plessis (UFC 305, August 2024 — a submission loss in round 4 of a back-and-forth title fight).

The style

Adesanya's style is the cleanest example of a kickboxer adapting to MMA distance without losing the kickboxing principles. The signature elements:

• Lead-leg side kick to the body: a long-range scoring weapon that disrupts the opponent's forward pressure. Adesanya developed this kick at City Kickboxing under coach Eugene Bareman and used it as a constant threat against any opponent who tried to walk him down.
• The calf kick attack: while not its inventor, Adesanya was one of the fighters who weaponized the low calf kick at championship level — most famously dismantling Paulo Costa's base over five rounds at UFC 253 in September 2020.
• Lead-leg push kick (teep): drawn from his Muay Thai roots, used to control distance and set up the rear cross.
• Switch step into rear high kick: a stance switch from orthodox to southpaw that loads the power of the new rear leg for a high kick — the technique that finished Robert Whittaker in their second bout at UFC 271.
• Long-distance counter game: Adesanya is rarely the fighter pressing forward. He prefers to draw opponents into committing to strikes, slip the offense, and counter with the rear hand or the lead hook.

The Whittaker fights

Adesanya won the middleweight title from Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne, October 2019 — a knockout in round 2 after Whittaker was hurt by a left hook on a counter. The crowd of 57,127 remains the largest in UFC history. The rematch at UFC 271 in February 2022 went the distance, Adesanya winning a unanimous decision in a much closer and more technical bout where Whittaker's wrestling threatened to change the dynamic of the division.

The Pereira rivalry

Adesanya's rivalry with Alex Pereira is the central narrative of his career. They fought three times in kickboxing (Pereira won all three, twice by decision and once by KO) and twice in MMA (Pereira won the first at UFC 281 by TKO in round 5; Adesanya won the rematch at UFC 287 by KO in round 2). The KO at UFC 287 was particularly clean — Adesanya pressured Pereira to the fence, slipped a left hook, and landed a perfect counter right hand that dropped Pereira and ended the fight.

The pop-culture figure

Adesanya is the rare modern champion whose presence outside the cage is as memorable as his performance inside it. His Naruto-inspired walkouts (the Madara Uchiha gear at UFC 248, the Akatsuki cloak at UFC 234), his Nigerian-flag-themed gear, his post-fight interviews that draw on hip-hop, anime, and Yoruba mythology — all of these have made him one of the most recognizable cultural figures the UFC has produced.

He has also been one of the more candid champions about mental health, the toll of the fight business, and the pressures of being a public figure. The reflective post-loss interviews after the Pereira defeat and the Strickland upset stand out in a sport that often glorifies emotional suppression.

The case

At his peak — roughly 2019 to early 2022 — Adesanya was the technically cleanest middleweight striker the UFC had ever promoted. The combination of K-1 polish, MMA distance management, and a calm in-cage demeanor produced title-defense performances against Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Yoel Romero, and Jared Cannonier that ranged from clinical to virtuosic. The losses since 2022 reflect the depth of the modern middleweight division (Pereira, du Plessis, Strickland are all elite operators) more than a decline in Adesanya's game.