Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya is a professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Born on July 22, 1989 in Lagos, Nigeria, he moved to New Zealand at the age of 10.

Adesanya began his martial arts career at age 18 after watching Bruce Lee movies; however he was initially interested in kickboxing and taekwondo. Training hard for six years with his self-taught skills, he became a successful kickboxer and competed all over the world including Europe and Japan. During this period Adesanya also developed an interest in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) which led him to join Auckland’s City Kickboxing Gym when it opened its doors in 2012. There he trained under Eugene Bareman who taught him how to integrate BJJ into his striking technique as well as developing grappling skills from scratch. Under Bareman’s guidance Adesanya also made his MMA debut while still training at City Kickboxing gym where he amassed an 11–0 record before being signed by UFC organization on February 2018.

Since joining UFC Israel Adesanya has achieved great success scoring 15 wins out of 16 fights including four Knockout of the Night awards and one Fight of Night award; thus becoming one of most accomplished fighters not only within middleweight division but among entire roster as well due to dramatic fighting style that combines traditional karate technique with fast footwork and powerful punches along with excellent defensive wrestling ability that allows him close distance quickly while defending against takedown attempts easily.. He was also awarded Performance Bonuses after every fight except for two decisions against Kelvin Gastelum & Yoel Romero . In March 2020 ,he defeated former long time champion Robert Whittaker via second round TKO winning interim Middleweight title thus gaining promotion to undisputed champion when beating Paulo Costa later that year via unanimous decision . With this victory Israel became first ever African born fighter to become undisputed champion across any weight class . As if it wasn’t enough ,in January 2021 during rematch against Costa ,Adesanya successfully defended belt again scoring technical knockout with spinning elbow strike resulting second Performance Bonus win for night making headlines throughout sports media outlets worldwide .

Adeysaya is widely considered among fans & media alike as one greatest current MMA athletes due to combination athleticism& skill combined explosive characters both inside out outside octagon which makes him star attraction whenever present regardless main card or prelim billing drawing casual audience members evenPPV buys rising exponentially since signing contract with organization prompting commentators label “Last Stylebender ” phenomenon match maker’s dream come true .. Having started journey humble beginnings turned himself into international superstar only five years later looks poised remain atop sport many more come same determination focus drove here beginning continues strive highest levels combat sports history