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What's the story?
Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya has once again proved to be a dominant force in the middleweight division, after a one-sided technical knockout (TKO) finish against Derek Brunson. Following the pre-fight hype, Adesanya seemed confident of his elite level kickboxing prowess and successfully backed it up with clinical striking that eventually handed him the win against Brunson.
In case you didn't know..
Israel Adesanya is a kickboxer from New Zealand, with roots stemming from Nigeria. He holds the AFC World Championship and Hex FC World Championship titles. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt under professor Andre Galvao. With an unprecedented kickboxing record consisting of 79 wins and just 4 defeats, Israel Adesanya is a natural striker with unbelievable movement and state of the art technique.
Going into this middleweight bout, Adesanya faced rival contender Derek Brunson, who has had a pretty impressive resume with the UFC, thus far. Some of his previous opponents include Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Anderson Silva, and Lyoto Machida. Brunson was a 3-time Division II All-American wrestler and trains at Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and Jackson's MMA along with light-heavyweight great, Jon Jones.
The heart of the matter
As the fight commenced, Adesanya was quick to check the distance with inside leg kicks and jabs. Leading up to this fight, he was doubted for his lack of wrestling experience but managed to stub a number of takedowns in round number one. Adesanya also used his feints effectively, before Brunson found some success by trying to tire Adesanya down by having him against the cage.
The fight did not go as far as it was presumably expected to last. As Derek Brunson shot for another takedown, Adesanya caught him flush with a right knee to the face. The shot stunned Brunson, to say the least.
A perfectly timed head kick, followed by a couple of strikes to the chin, dropped Brunson down, forcing referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest. Israel Adesanya secured a convincing win over Derek Brunson, just 4 minutes and 51 seconds into the very first round.
What's next?
Israel Adesanya is showing tremendous determination and promise in the middleweight division. Not only is he confident with his technique and fighting style, but he also knows how to study opponents and finish fights in "style".
Further thoughts and opinions on who could be his next opponent in the middleweight roster? Leave your comments below!
