Israel Adesanya News

Adam D Martin - September 17, 2021

UFC president Dana White confirmed that the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker is being targeted for January. Adesanya defeated Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision back in June at UFC 263, and the hope was that the UFC would be able to get the middleweight champ back in the cage one more time before 2021 was up. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel and quarantine rules for fighters in Australia and New Zealand, it has become difficult for the UFC to get this fight booked. In fact, as White told The Daily Telegraph in a recent interview, he is now targeting the Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 fight to take place next year.

Adam D Martin - September 15, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson says controlling champ Israel Adesanya on the ground isn’t good enough, as he wants to finish him. Brunson is one of the hottest fighters in the UFC right now as the veteran middleweight has won his last five fights in a row, with his latest win, a submission victory over Darren Till, being the most impressive of the bunch. Following the big win over Till, Brunson called out Adesanya for a rematch in what would be a middleweight title bout. The last time these two fought, there was no title on the line and Adesanya knocked Brunson out in a devastating fashion. However, Brunson believes that he has made the necessary adjustments in order to defeat Adesanya and show that he can be beaten — and finished.

Adam D Martin - September 14, 2021

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold called out Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman for not backing Francis Ngannou. Rockhold makes his return to the Octagon after more than two years away in November at UFC 268 when he takes on Sean Strickland. Ahead of his comeback to the cage, Rockhold has been doing the media rounds and one of his stops was Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour.

Chris Taylor - September 4, 2021

Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was keeping tabs on today’s UFC Vegas 36 main event between Derek Brunson and Darren Till. Brunson (23-7 MMA) and Till (18-4-1 MMA) squared off this afternoon with hopes of earning a future title shot against Adesanya (21-1 MMA).

Harry Kettle - September 2, 2021

UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya has given his thoughts on the fight between Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley. Last Sunday night, Jake Paul was able to keep his unbeaten pro boxing record going thanks to a split decision win over the aforementioned Woodley. “The Problem Child” had to face some adversity but did more than enough to get his hand raised, cementing his spot as one of the biggest draws in the sport right now.

Cole Shelton - August 22, 2021

Israel Adesanya is focused on defending his middleweight title but he is open to fighting for light heavyweight gold again. At UFC 259 in March, Adesanya moved up in weight to face Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title in a try to become a champ-champ. Unfortnately, the fight did not go his way and he lost a decision for his first professional MMA loss.

Cole Shelton - August 17, 2021

Darren Till believes he will defeat Israel Adesanya to become the UFC middleweight champion. Till has been vocal about being a UFC champion in his career but it has yet to come to fruition so far. He did fight for UFC gold at UFC 228 but lost by submission to Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title.

Harry Kettle - August 17, 2021

Stephen Thompson has said he’s open to the idea of a future match-up with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Thompson, better known to the masses as “Wonderboy”, has had his fair share of ups and downs throughout the course of his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He’s come within touching distance of the UFC welterweight title on multiple occasions only to fall short, and after his recent defeat to Gilbert Burns, many wonder whether or not he can ever challenge for the belt again.

Chris Taylor - August 14, 2021

The highly anticipated UFC middleweight title fight rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker has reportedly been pushed back until 2022. Dana White and company were originally looking to book Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 for the main event of UFC 268 on November 6 at Madision Square Garden in New York. However, the States new pandemic-related restrictions have forced the promotion to make a change of plans.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

Paulo Costa explains why he got drunk the night before his UFC middleweight title fight against champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. Costa was knocked out by Adesanya at UFC 253 in what was an uncompetitive fight from the Brazilian. Although Costa was unbeaten heading into the Adesanya fight and looking every bit the part of a legitimate title contender, he had a lackluster outing against “Stylebender” and was put to sleep for his efforts. After the fight, Costa admitted that he was drunk on wine the night before and that it played a role in his poor performance that night. Speaking to ESPN in a recent interview, Costa elaborated on what happened to him.

Adam D Martin - August 10, 2021

Jon Jones’ coach says he would prefer Jan Blachowicz over ‘Stylebender’ in a potential return to 205, saying “Israel’s not the guy anymore.” Jones and the UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya talked a lot of trash to each other over the last few years, and at one point in time, it seemed like a meeting between these two superstars was inevitable. However, with Jones moving up to the UFC heavyweight division, and with Adesanya losing to Blachowicz in his bid to become the promotion’s 205lbs champion, it appears as though there is not as much interest in this fight now. At least that’s what Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn claimed in a recent interview with Submission Radio, where the veteran striking coach explained what motivates Jones.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2021

Colby Covington is set to rematch Kamaru Usman at UFC 268 but he already has plans after that. Covington is the former UFC interim welterweight champion but came up short in his bid for the undisputed champion at UFC 245. He lost by fifth-round TKO to Usman but he has a ton of confidence ahead of the rematch.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

Uriah Hall is hoping for a future UFC title fight against Israel Adesanya, saying that “I think my style is perfectly matched up for him.” Hall takes on Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC Vegas 33 this Saturday night in a battle of top-15 ranked middleweights. Both Hall and Strickland are riding four-fight win streaks into this fight, so the winner will assuredly be in line for a top-ranked opponent should they win in an impressive fashion. For both Hall and Strickland, the goal is to keep getting their hands raised and eventually get to a title shot against the middleweight champion Adesanya. For Hall, beating Strickland would give him five straight wins at 185lbs, and after beating Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman previously, he is hoping that a big win over Strickland will springboard him to near the top of the middleweight division.

Adam D Martin - July 12, 2021

In a new video posted to his YouTube channel, watch Israel Adesanya react to Conor McGregor breaking his leg in the main event of UFC 264. Like everyone else who loves MMA, Adesanya was watching the UFC 264 pay-per-view card with a group of his friends and was glued to the action for the main event between McGregor and Poirier. The fight started off strong for the Irishman as he was able to land some hard kicks on Poirier, but as soon as McGregor went to his back on the ground, it seemed like the tide turned in the fight. Ultimately, Poirier won the fight via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) when McGregor was not able to continue due to his injury.

Chris Taylor - July 3, 2021

Robert Whittaker admits that he let his emotions get the best of him in his first fight with Israel Adesanya at UFC 243. Whittaker (23-5 MMA) and Adesanya (21-1 MMA) squared off for the promotions undisputed middleweight title in October of 2019, with ‘Stylebender’ emerging victorious by way of second round knockout.

Harry Kettle - June 25, 2021

Israel Adesanya has lashed out at internet trolls after Megan Anderson revealed she was recently threatened with rape. Adesanya has always been a fighter who stands up for what he believes in and, in this instance, he’s one of many who has recognized the magnitude of these disgraceful comments by keyboard warriors online.

Adam D Martin - June 21, 2021

Robert Whittaker dubbed UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s UFC 263 performance as average, and “The Last Stylebender” responded. Adesanya defeated rival Marvin Vettori in the pair’s rematch as last weekend’s UFC 263 pay-per-view event in Glendale, Arizona. Adesanya was able to utilize his superior striking and showed improvements in his grappling as he was able to win a unanimous decision over the Italian. Vettori, of course, only got the title shot against Adesanya after Whittaker was forced to decline it due to the fight’s close proximity to his matchup against Kelvin Gastelum in April. With Whittaker unable to take the fight at that time, Vettori stepped up and got the title shot instead, only Adesanya was able to go in there and win handily.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2021

The pay-per-view buyrate for UFC 263 is in. According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, UFC 263 which went down last Saturday in Arizona sold 500,000 PPVs on ESPN+ in the United States. It’s reported to have done over 600,000 globally.