10 Best Performances Of Israel Adesanya’s UFC Career, According To Stats

Highlights

• Adesanya ranks second in wins and first in knockdowns in UFC Middleweight division – a dominant legacy.
• Impressive wins against legends like Silva and Gastelum showcase Adesanya’s undeniable Middleweight contender status.
• Adesanya’s ability to stuff takedowns and control the striking battle solidifies his reign as UFC Middleweight king.

Israel Adesanya has built himself an impressive legacy in the UFC. From 2019 to 2022, Israel Adesanya was the Middleweight champion and defended his title successfully five times.

For winning streaks and title fights won in the division, the New Zealander ranks second all-time. He is also tied for first in knockdowns landed, according to the UFC record book. In particular, 10 fights statistically stand out that helped him build a dominant legacy, as he’s known as The Last Stylebender in the octagon.

10 Adesanya Starts UFC Career With Bang

Rob Wilkinson Absorbs 46 Strikes in Second Round

Adesanya in his UFC debut certainly didn’t disappoint. He did get off to a shaky start, however, as Rob Wilkinson landed three takedowns, with Adesanya spending most of the first round getting controlled.

But the second round was a different story, as The Last Stylebender applied early pressure to keep Wilkinson off him and did not let up until the referee was forced to jump in to stop the fight. Adesanya landed 46 significant strikes in the second round after scoring a knockout win.

9 Adesanya Shows a Legend He Belongs

Silva Gets Dominated in Rounds One and Three

Before becoming a champion, Adesanya got a chance to make a statement to the MMA world against Anderson Silva. Now, keep in mind, that Silva was past his prime, as the Brazilian lost four out of his last six contests going into the match.

But still, this fight proved that Adesanya belonged as a Middleweight contender. In rounds one and three, Adesanya out-landed Silva 45-11 with significant strikes to earn himself a unanimous decision victory against a legend.

8 A War With Kelvin Gastelum

Adesanya Comes Out With Big 5th Round to Become New Interim Middleweight Champ

Adesanya found himself in a dogfight for the interim Middleweight title at UFC 234. Going into round five, both fighters had their moments. The Last Stylebender scored a knockdown in round two and out-landed his opponent with significant strikes in round three.

However, it might have been tied 2-2 going into the fifth round because Kelvin Gastelum had the striking advantage in rounds one and four. But Adesanya came out hungry for the belt in the fifth and out-landed Gastelum 43-15 to become the new interim Middleweight champion.

7 Marvin Vettori Beaten by Adesanya Again

The Last Stylebender Wins All Five Rounds

Early in Adesanya’s career, he matched up with Marvin Vettori, which he won by a split decision. Vettori felt he won the fight and finally got his rematch at UFC 262. Unfortunately for the Italian mixed martial artist, this fight wasn’t close.

Vettori struggled to get Adesanya down to the ground, only landing four of 14 takedowns. While Vettori had just under seven minutes in control time to just 36 seconds of Adesanya’s, he lost the significant strike battle 96-58. All three judges gave The Last Stylebender a 50-45 victory via unanimous decision.

6 Brad Tavares Gets a Beatdown

Adesanya Throws a Record 140 Significant Strikes

The Last Stylebender in The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale gave Brad Tavares a beatdown. There was no knockout – but Adesanya mixed in various body shots. Out of his 140 significant strikes, which is his personal record in the UFC, 61 went to the head and 37 went to the legs. Adesanya earned the unanimous decision victory in the five-round fight.

5 Robert Whittaker’s Takedowns Do Little to Influence Scorecards

Adesanya Gets Unanimous Decision Victory

During Adesanya’s reign as UFC’s 185-pound king, many saw Robert Whittaker as the biggest threat. And you can see why in the second fight between the two at UFC 271. What was impressive about Adesanya in this match was his ability to stuff takedowns and quickly get up once taken down to the mat, resulting in little control time for Whittaker in five rounds.

During rounds two through four, the significant strike battle was decided by five or less – but it was pretty obvious Adesanya would be ahead on the scorecards and got the nod via unanimous decision.

4 Jared Cannonier Gets Title Shot After Big Call-Out

Adesanya Wins Fight Easily

After an impressive knockout win at UFC 271, Jared Cannonier made his plea for a title shot against Adesanya .“Hey, Dana: Look at me,” he said in his post-fight interview. “Dana, I want that shot next. I get the shot next. It’s me. Nobody else. It’s me.”

Cannonier would get his opportunity at UFC 276, but just like in the second Whittaker fight, Adesanya did just enough to win most or all five rounds. He also stuffed all four of Cannonier’s takedown attempts and edged the Texas native 116-90 in significant strikes.

3 Interim to New Champion

Marc Goddard Stops Fight After Second Round Knockdown

The first bout between Whittaker and Adesanya occurred at UFC 243. It was champion versus interim champion. Adesanya had a big moment in the first round when he scored a knockdown late – but Whittaker wound up getting saved by the bell. However, there was no bell to rescue Whittaker a second time.

The Last Stylebender caught his opponent with a combination that sent Whittaker down and Marc Goddard stepped in to stop the fight after landing some finishing punches on the ground. Adesanya would get the interim tag scratched off to become the new Middleweight king.

2 Paulo Costa Gets The Tea Bag

Adesanya Ends the Hype

Going into the fight, there was a lot of euphoria centering Paulo Costa. In MMA, the Brazilian was unbeaten and had won all five fights in the UFC. Of those, four were by knockout. But Adesanya put an end to the hype by dominating the fight and ending it in the second round after knocking down Costa and landing a flurry of punches. To add insult to injury, Adesanya gave Costa the good ole Call of Duty Tea Bag after the referee stopped the fight.

1 Adesanya Defeats His Demon

Pereira Gets Knocked Out After Going 3-0 Against Adesanya

Adesanya has accomplished a lot in the sport – but there was one guy that was daunting to him still – and that was Alex Pereira. Not only did Pereira beat The Last Stylebender in kickboxing twice, but he also took away his UFC glory with a knockout in the fifth and final round at UFC 281. There was a lot of pressure on Adesanya to beat Pereira in a rematch at UFC 287.

Going 0-4 against his biggest rival in combat sports would have been humiliating. While Adesanya did not have the best first round, he came back in the second to catch Pereira with two big right hands that knocked him out cold and defeated his demon to regain his middleweight title.