Israel Adesanya vs Jan Blachowicz
His academic prowess and a love of dancing made him a further target for abuse - but he now says the physical and emotional scars from those incidents were behind his life-defining decision to pursue a career in martial arts. He also credits his dancing abilities for helping him develop the fluid fighting style he possesses today. The turning point came after watching the hit martial arts movie Ong Bak. It had such an effect on him that he decided to quit his computer science degree program at the age of 18 to pursue a career in kickboxing.
Despite the lack of preparation, Adesanya was supremely confident he would win the fight. He only met Bateman the day before the fight and the trainer had no idea who he was but agreed to be in the Nigerians corner for the fight. Unsurprisingly, Adesanya lost the bout after being well beaten by his opponent, spending two-thirds of the fight on his back.
"He got absolutely pasted, beaten, in every round, he showed some talent, but it was such a one-sided fight," remembered Bateman. When both men met again, Bateman simply was not interested in training the overconfident upstart "If a fighter goes away and has the ability to recognize that you're doing something that will work for him, then that's someone that deserves our attention" (at City Kickboxing).
Adesanya did indeed leave after that comment but was soon back, insisting that City Kickboxing was where he had to be and actually it did not take too long for Bareman to reassess his opinion of the fighter.” That [light-bulb] moment came when he had his first kickboxing fight for the gym," Bareman admitted.” He fought a guy that was much more experienced than him and he took the guy apart and while he was doing that he was entertaining the crowd. That's when I thought man this kid is really talented.
“Both men went to forge a formidable bond traveling around the world, competing in far-flung arenas across four continents while amassing a stunning record of 75 wins and 5 losses, with 48 of those wins coming by knockout. Israel Adesanya (left) avoids a punch from Lance Bryant during the 2015 Super8 Fight Night in New Zealand.
Adesanya also found time to take up professional boxing, winning the New Zealand Super8 Boxing tournament in 2014 and again in 2015 and his record stands at 5 wins and one controversial loss on points. In December 2017 he decided to sign with MMA's highest-profile and most lucrative company, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UF). He then outpointed American Kevin Gastelum to win the interim belt before knocking out New Zealand-born Australian Robert Whittaker in front of a record 57,125 fans at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne to become the undisputed middleweight champion.
Two successful title defences against fearsome monsters Cuban Yoel Romero and Brazilian Paulo Costa have solidified his position at the top along with perfect records of 20 wins and no losses with 15 knockouts. His performances have also seen him win the $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus five times and Fight of the Night bonus two times.
Those performances and his personality have also seen him sign plenty of endorsements around the world including back in his native Nigeria and was on UFC 4 video game. A win on Saturday will surely see him attract even more sponsors even if it might scare away opponents.
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