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Israel Adesanya locked horns with Kelvin Gastelum way back in April 2019 at UFC 236. 'The Last Stylebender' recorded a unanimous decision win over Gastelum as the judges scored the fight 48-46, 48-46 and 48-46 in his favor.
The fight took place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The card was headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway.
Adesanya and Gastelum met inside the octagon with the interim middleweight title on the line. The Kiwi walked away with the title and a showdown against then-middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.
Gastelum pressed Adesanya to kick things off, but it was the New Zealander who scored first with a hard kick to the mid-section. The key moment in the first round was when the southpaw knocked Adesanya into the cage with a strike to the head.
The second stanza of their fight saw Adesanya boost his output. Having familiarized themselves with their opponents, the first three rounds were an excellent display of tactical striking and pace.
However, their clash turned into an all-out brawl in the championship rounds. The fourth frame of their scrap saw Adesanya get rocked with a headkick followed by a series of takedown attempts from Gastelum.
The final round saw Adesanya display his grappling pedigree, locking Gastelum in a deep guillotine and a head-and-arm triangle choke. Although Gastelum managed to escape the submission attempts he was dropped by the Kiwi twice in the final minute.
The interim title bout at UFC 236 had everything an MMA fan could ever want in a fight. From shifts in momentum to an extremely high volume of strikes, the fight truly impressed, leaving fans at the State Farm Arena vying for more.
Israel Adesanya in great shape ahead of UFC 271 clash against Robert Whittaker
Israel Adesanya is currently hurtling towards his rematch against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 271. The clash is slated to take place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The City Kickboxing product recently posted a series of pictures on social media. He looked to be in great shape and high spirits as he inches closer towards his highly anticipated fight against 'The Reaper'.
Check out Israel Adesanya's tweet below:
The Kiwi previously lifted the UFC middleweight title off of Whittaker when they went toe-to-toe in the then-champion's backyard in Melbourne at the Marvel Stadium.
He recorded a second-round KO to unify the middleweight titles at UFC 243 back in October 2019.
