Every athlete has a journey to the top of the mountain. For example, in 1960, boxing legend Muhammad Ali made his debut and recorded 19 straight wins before defeating Sonny Liston to win the WBA and WBC Heavyweight titles.
Recently, a star has been born in the MMA world. The journey of Israel Adesanya is different, but his skill set is among the elite.
At the age of 18, Adesanya began to train in kickboxing. He amassed a record of 75-5 to show how he was not to be taken lightly. Six years later, Adesanya made his pro MMA debut. He tallied a record of 8-0, all by way of KO, before he signed to the UFC in February of 2018.
Within a year, Adesanya was the winner of four consecutive bouts against Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares, and Derek Brunson.
In 2019 alone, Adesanya went face-to-face and won against one of the best Middleweight Champions of all-time in Anderson Silva at UFC 234. After that, he moved onto Kelvin Gastelum and won via unanimous decision.
All of this built up a special moment at UFC 235 against Robert Whittaker. After a second-round KO, Adesanya merited the Middleweight title.
From an 18-year rookie to a 30-year old Champion, Israel Adesanya is one of the most lethal fighters in the UFC. From here, he will likely foresee a fight against Paulo Costa.
Photo credit: MMA Junkie
