Israel Adesanya

Early life and background

Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria, the eldest of five children. His father, Oluwafemi, is an accountant and his mother, Taiwo, is a nurse. He is ethnic Yoruba. Adesanya attended Chrisland School, Opebi, and enrolled in its Taekwondo after-school club until he was removed by his mother due to an injury.

In 1999, he relocated to Ghana with his family for 10 months, but due to his parents wanting their children to receive a well-recognised higher education, he settled in Rotorua, New Zealand, at age 10 and attended Rotorua Boys' High School. Adesanya was not interested in sports during high school; instead he was interested in Japanese anime such as Death Note and the manga series Naruto. Adesanya was bullied during his high school years and attributes his decision to pursue martial arts later in life to the mistreatment he experienced. Adesanya's first exposure to fighting and an early influence on him was watching the British boxer Prince Naseem Hamed. He stated that in an interview, "I remember watching him, mesmerized at what I saw, how we came to the ring and did that flip. That was one of my earliest memories of showmanship."

Following high school graduation, Adesanya enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Computer Design at the Universal College of Learning in Whanganui. At the age of 18, he started training in kickboxing, after being inspired by the Muay Thai film Ong-Bak. Two years later Adesanya made the decision to cease his studies in pursuit of a career in kickboxing and went on to amass an amateur record of 32–1 before turning professional and fighting in China. At the age of 21, Adesanya moved to Auckland, New Zealand, and began training in mixed martial arts under Eugene Bareman at City Kickboxing, with future UFC fighters such as Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France and UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski. He trains in wrestling under the Romanian New Zealander Andrei Păuleț.

Professional kickboxing career

Early beginnings

In his early career he amassed a long winning streak in New Zealand, Australia and had numerous bouts with Wu Lin Feng in China. His winning streak earned him a place in the 2014 Kunlun Fight 80 kg tournament, held during Kunlun Fight 2. He lost the semifinal bout against Simon Marcus by an extra round split decision. Adesanya afterwards made his Glory debut at Glory 15, when he faced Filip Verlinden. Verlinden won the fight by unanimous decision. The two of them fought a rematch at Glory of Heroes 3, two years after their first fight, with Adesanya winning a unanimous decision.

Adesanya participated in the King in the Ring Cruiserweights II tournament of the regional circuit in New Zealand. In the quarterfinal, he beat Slava Alexeichik by unanimous decision, in the semifinal he beat Pati Afoa by knockout and won the tournament with a knockout of Jamie Eades. Six months later, he took part in the 2015 Cruiserweights III tournament. He scored technical knockouts of Kim Loudon and Mark Timms in the quarterfinal and semifinal bouts respectively, before winning the tournament for the second time with a first-round knockout of Pati Afoa.

Moving up in weight, Adesanya participated in the 2015 The Heavyweights III, as well. He defeated Nase Foai by TKO in the quarterfinal and Dan Roberts by KO in the semifinal, before facing Jamie Eades in the finals. The two had previously met in the final of the 2014 Cruiserweight tournament. Adesanya won the tournament final by unanimous decision.

Glory of Heroes

Adesanya won five of his next six fights, including victories over Yousri Belgaroui and Bogdan Stoica. His loss came at the hands of future GLORY Middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who won by unanimous decision.

Glory

Adesanya participated in the 2016 Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament. He defeated Robert Thomas by unanimous decision in the semifinals, and won the tournament with a split decision victory over Yousri Belgaroui. He fought Jason Wilnis for the Glory Middleweight championship at Glory 37: Los Angeles. Wilnis won the fight by unanimous decision, although the result was considered controversial.

Return to Glory of Heroes and final bout

His last kickboxing fight, before transitioning to mixed martial arts, was a rematch with Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7. Pereira won the fight by knockout, after dropping Adesanya with a short left hook in the third round.

Adesanya retired from kickboxing peaking at #4 in the ranking system.

Professional mixed martial arts career

Early career

Adesanya made his professional debut in 2012, with a TKO win against James Griffiths. He scored another TKO win against John Vake, before taking a two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts. He returned to MMA in August 2015, when he won the fight against Song Kenan by TKO. He went on to amass an 8–0 record, fighting mostly in Oceanian and Chinese circuits. During this run, he won the AFC Middleweight Championship at Australia Fighting Championship 20 with a first-round TKO over Melvin Guillard, as well as the Hex Fight Series Middleweight championship with a first-round KO of Stuart Dare.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In December 2017, it was announced that Adesanya had signed a contract with the UFC. He made his debut against Rob Wilkinson on 11 February 2018, at UFC 221. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round. This fight earned him a Performance of the Night award.

Adesanya's next fight took place on 14 April 2018, against Marvin Vettori at UFC on Fox 29. He won the match by split decision. 15 out of 17 media outlets scored the bout for Adesanya.

Adesanya then faced Brad Tavares on 6 July 2018, at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale. Adesanya won the one-sided fight via unanimous decision. This win earned him his second Performance of the Night award.

Adesanya faced Derek Brunson on 3 November 2018, at UFC 230. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award for a third time.

While initially expected to serve as the co-main event, Adesanya faced former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on 10 February 2019, in the main event of UFC 234. He won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned both competitors the Fight of the Night award.

Adesanya faced Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship on 13 April 2019, in the co-main event of UFC 236. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 48–46. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award. The fight was widely regarded as the best fight of the year, earning the nomination from most of the MMA news outlets.

Adesanya then faced Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout on 6 October 2019, headlining UFC 243 for UFC Middleweight Championship. After a knockdown in last second of the first round, Adesanya won the fight via knockout in the second round. This win earned him his fourth Performance of the Night award. Him and Kamaru Usman becoming UFC champions was ranked as the 29th most memorable moment in Nigerian sports history since 1960 by Premium Times in 2020, one of only four combat sports-related moments.

Professional boxing career

Prizefighting tournaments

Adesanya began his professional boxing career in November 2014 against two-time Australian champion Daniel Ammann. He was granted one of two wildcards to enter the inaugural cruiserweight Super 8 Boxing Tournament. The event was headlined by Shane Cameron and Kali Meehan at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. He suffered a controversial loss via unanimous decision after he looked to have outpointed Ammann in the quarter-finals.

Adesanya re-entered the Super 8 tournament in May 2015, held at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch. It was the second cruiserweight series with the winner receiving $25,000 NZD and a new car. He won his first professional fight against fellow New Zealander Asher Derbyshire in the first seed. Adesanya knocked his opponent out in the second round. In the second fight of the tournament, Adesanya won a majority decision against Lance Bryant. In the tournament final, he defeated Brian Minto by split decision.

Adesanya fought in the 2015 Super 8 Cruiserweight tournament. He won his semifinal match against Zane Hopman by unanimous decision, and defended the cruiserweight crown with a unanimous decision win against Lance Bryant in the final.

Fighting style

Adesanya is primarily known as a striker, drawing on his background in kickboxing and Muay Thai. GLORY described his kickboxing style as flamboyant, noting his athletic kicking, frequent stance switching, low-hand posture and evasive countering. In mixed martial arts, his stand-up game has been described as being built around vision, distance and timing: he uses footwork to keep opponents at range, sets a measured tempo with jabs, teeps and kicks, and looks to counter as opponents enter.

A recurring feature of Adesanya's style is his use of feints. Analysts have noted his use of hand, shoulder and hip feints to draw defensive reactions, disguise straight punches and kicks, and create countering opportunities. He generally avoids extended pocket exchanges, preferring short punching combinations followed by kicks, exits, slips or rolls. His kicking arsenal has included low kicks, body kicks, front kicks and question-mark kicks, often set up by hip feints or stance switches.

In grappling exchanges, Adesanya's MMA game has generally been oriented toward keeping fights upright and in open space. SB Nation described him as a strong defensive wrestler, while UFC Stats records his official takedown-defense rate among his career statistics.

Controversies

Referencing 9/11 attack

In February 2020, Adesanya came under fire for comments made at the UFC 248 pre-fight press conference, where he said he would make opponent Yoel Romero "crumble like the Twin Towers", referencing the September 11 attacks. The following day, Adesanya made an apology on his Instagram page, saying "I was simply rambling and my brain worked faster than my mouth in a moment to choose the wrong euphemism. You speak on the mic enough times and you're bound to miss the mark with some bars. I did on this one and for that I'm sorry. I'll be more careful in future with my words."

Derogatory sexual comment

On 25 March 2021, New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Sport, Grant Robertson, spoke out against Adesanya's "flippant comments" on his Instagram "Bro, I will fuckin' rape you" aimed at fellow UFC middleweight fighter, Kevin Holland. Robertson commented "I'm sure Israel understands that, I believe he has deleted the tweet in question. It will be up to the UFC as to what they do. But I would certainly be making clear to him [Adesanya], and to anybody actually, that we have to take rape seriously. It's not an issue that anyone should be making jokes or flippant comments about at all."

Brass knuckles possession arrest

On 16 November 2022, Adesanya was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City for the possession of brass knuckles.

Drunk driving

On 19 August 2023, Adesanya was pulled over for drunk driving in central Auckland, New Zealand where he was measured with blood alcohol content of 87mg%. In New Zealand the legal limit for driving is 50 mg%, and above 80 mg% the punishment is up to 3 months imprisonment. On 10 January 2024, he pleaded guilty and in lieu of a prison sentence, he was fined NZ$1,500 and given a six-month driving suspension. He was granted a discharge without conviction—his second, after previously driving while disqualified—due to the adverse effect a conviction would have on his ability to travel and acquire sponsorships. Additionally, after his court appearance he posted videos from inside the court to his social media pages, which is illegal in New Zealand without the permission of the presiding judge. He later removed the posts and released an apology.

Misinformation

On 1 August 2024, Adesanya made false comments on Twitter in regard to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's win at the 2024 Summer Olympics, saying "Men should not be boxing women. lol he couldn't even finish her. Anyway, people > politics." He later apologized and said "From now on, I will leave women's fights to women. I tried to speak up about it and apparently, I got it wrong, a lot of people got it wrong, there was misinformation."

Road rage incident

On 5 September 2024, Adesanya was involved in a verbal confrontation with an individual after a road rage incident in Auckland, New Zealand, with Adesanya having been caught on video spitting in the direction of the man. In response to the incident, Adesanya expressed his disappointment about the nature of the incident in a statement, alleging that he was racially abused and will be looking to press charges against the individual.

Personal life

Adesanya is multilingual, fluent in Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin, and English.

Before taking up fighting, Adesanya regularly competed in dance competitions across New Zealand. He highlighted his passion for dance in a choreographed walkout at UFC 243.

Adesanya is a fan of anime and has stated he would like to start an anime production company after retiring from fighting. His nickname "The Last Stylebender" is a reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an anime-influenced cartoon series. Adesanya has the image of one of the show's main characters, Toph Beifong, tattooed on his forearm.

Adesanya is also a professional wrestling fan, once stopping mid interview when he spotted Booker T and acknowledged him.

In September 2020, he became the first mixed martial arts athlete to sign a sponsorship deal with Puma.

In June 2023, Stylebender, a documentary film focusing on the life of Adesanya debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Views and positions

Adesanya endorsed a "yes" vote in the 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum.

In June 2021, Adesanya advocated tougher penalties against coward punching following the death of his training partner Fau Vake, who died after being punched in the head the previous month.

Championships and accomplishments

Boxing

Super 8 Boxing Tournament

Super 8 III Cruiserweight Champion (eight man tournament)

Super 8 IV Cruiserweight Champion (four man tournament)

Muay Thai

World Muaythai Council

2014 WMC Ocenia Cruiserweight Championship

World Boxing Council Muay Thai

2014 WBC Muay Thai International Cruiserweight Championship

World Kickboxing Federation

2011 WKBF Muay Thai New Zealand Cruiserweight Championship

Kickboxing

King in the Ring

2014 King in the Ring 86 kg II Champion (eight man tournament)

2015 King in the Ring 86 kg III Champion (eight man tournament)

2015 King in the Ring 100kgs II Champion (eight man tournament)

Glory

2016 Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament Winner (four man tournament)

Awards

Combat Press

2017 Fight of the Year (vs. Alex Pereira)

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC Hall of Fame (Fight Wing, Class of 2025) vs. Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236

UFC Middleweight Championship (two times)

Five successful title defenses (first reign)

The first two-time UFC Middleweight champion

Interim UFC Middleweight Championship (one time)

Most knockdowns in a UFC title fight (4) vs Kelvin Gastelum

Second most title fight wins in UFC Middleweight division history (8) (behind Anderson Silva)

Second most knockdowns in UFC title fights (9)

Performance of the Night (Six times) vs. Rob Wilkinson, Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, Robert Whittaker 1, Paulo Costa and Alex Pereira 2

Fight of the Night (two times) vs. Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum

Tied (Yoel Romero) for the third most post-fight bonuses in UFC Middleweight division history (8)

Tied (Anderson Silva) for most knockdowns in UFC Middleweight division history (13)

Second longest winning streak in UFC Middleweight division history (12) (behind Anderson Silva)

Second longest average fight time in UFC Middleweight division history (16:43) (behind Sean Strickland)