Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya looks back at his emphatic UFC debut in 2018.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya may have one of the most notable title runs in MMA today. Within a year since making his Octagon debut, “The Last Stylebender” managed to climb the division and defeat all-comers, including legend and future Hall-of-Famer Anderson Silva in February 2019. Two months later, he won the interim UFC title in a FOTY against Kelvin Gastelum, and then unified it by knocking out Robert Whittaker last October.
Adesanya first stepped inside the UFC cage at UFC 221 in February 2018 against Australia’s Rob Wilkinson. The Nigerian-born New Zealand fighter greatly impressed fans with a second-round TKO win and a Performance of the Night bonus to boot.
What wasn’t seen by everyone was his emotional walk back to his locker room backstage. A short clip of it was first posted by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, which Adesanya himself retweeted as he looked back on that moment.
…how I feel watching this again.
Fuck we’ve come a long way.
Still got a way to go #attainpeace https://t.co/q6oS1dAd6E— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) March 4, 2020
Adesanya will defend his title for the first time against Yoel Romero at UFC 248. The event takes place this Saturday, March 7, in Las Vegas.