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2021 seems to be a year of MMA upsets. Israel Adesanya losing to Jan Blachowicz is the second major UFC upset this year, after Dustin Poirier beat Conor McGregor at UFC 257.
Israel Adesanya came into the fight as the betting favourite, given his 20-0 pro career and the absolute dominance he has shown so far. However, Jan Blachowicz has reminded us time and again why he cannot be counted out. The light heavyweight champion of the world dueled ‘The Last Stylebender’ in a martial arts chess match, winning a unanimous decision victory.
You have to hand it to Israel Adesanya, though: the man put his perfect record on the line and dared to be great. He could have just stayed at middleweight and continued to dominate the division that he had already wiped clean but decided he wanted to be more. He weighed in at 201 pounds and probably fought at the same weight, whereas Blachowicz likely weighed 220+ pounds on fight night. That being said, Jan Blachowicz is as legit as it gets, and we’re going to be talking about this man for a long time.
Paulo Costa thought he was going to be the man to make Izzy 19-1, but the Polish powerhouse would eventually be the one to dent Israel Adesanya’s perfect record. Now that 'Stylebender' has said he will be moving back to middleweight for the immediate future, what lies ahead?
Here are 5 possible fights that we think could be the way forward for middleweight champion Israel Adesanya:
#1 Robert Whittaker
This one’s a no-brainer. Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker has established himself as the true #1 contender in the middleweight division after dominant victories following his loss to Israel Adesanya.
He’s fighting Paulo Costa next, but the middleweight division deserves a rematch between ‘Bobby Knuckles’ and ‘The Last Stylebender’. If Whittaker beats Costa, a rematch between him and Adesanya for the title is inevitable.
#2 Darren Till
Israel Adesanya has been dropping this name a few times over the last couple of weeks. It’s understandable, considering he wanted to fightJared Cannonier but ‘Killa Gorilla’ lost to Robert Whittaker.
The next man on the list who hasn’t faced Izzy is Darren Till. This could be an interesting matchup, or at the very least would be extremely entertaining in its build-up. All Darren Till needs to do is keep winning and get himself up the contender ladder.
#3 Jared Cannonier
As mentioned above, Cannonier had the road to the title in his sights, but he couldn’t get through Robert Whittaker to realise it. However, Israel Adesanya has mentioned on more than one occasion that he would like to fight Cannonier.
Stylistically, it would be a very interesting match because both Cannonier and Izzy have massive ability and incredible heart. Jared Cannonier needs to shake off the loss and get himself back into the win column so we can enjoy Jared Cannonier vs Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title.
#4 Marvin Vettori
This one is going to be very interesting if it happens, to say the least. Marvin Vettori fought Israel Adesanya back in 2018 where he lost by a split decision. Many saw it justified, while some thought Vettori was robbed. Regardless, ‘The Italian Dream’ came very close to handing ‘The Last Stylebender’ his first loss.
Vettori beat Hermansson in his last fight and looks to be in great shape, ready to walk the path to the title. If he keeps winning and gets himself into a top contender position, a rematch between him and Israel Adesanya is going to be inevitable. It’s also going to be a beauty to watch, considering how close it was the last time. It’s not 2018 anymore and Izzy’s the champ, but MMA is as unpredictable a sport as it gets.
#5 Jan Blachowicz
We have to see this one again. Tonight’s fight was an absolute chess match, and you can be sure both men are going to watch the fight multiple times over to see what happened and what could have been done instead. Jan won the unanimous decision victory, but even after 5 rounds with the Polish powerhouse, 'Stylebender' barely looked like he was touched.
Israel Adesanya is constantly improving his ground game and both men now have a better idea of each other’s abilities.The rematch is going to be incredible, that you can be sure of. This was Adesanya's first outing at 205 and he handled himself extremely well against a man who knocks the lights out of giants.
If and when they do ever decide to go at it again, you can be sure that we will be waiting with baited breath to watch it unfold.
For now, Israel Adesanya can hold his head high and take the “L” with the class and confidence he seems to exude. He apologised for losing tonight, but he’s still the undisputed king of the middleweights and there’s a decorated list of scalps he’s collected so far.
He has a long way to go yet and will do some amazing things while at it. For our part, we will be watching intently every single time he sets foot inside the Octagon.
