Israel The Respectable Mobolaji Odunayo Oluwafemi Temitayo Owolabi Adesanya, who was born on July 22, 1989, is a professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer in New Zealand. He has won multiple championships in all three of these sports.
He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and currently fights in the UFC Middleweight division (UFC). He used to be a kickboxer who was in the running for the Glory Middleweight Championship. As of November 14, 2022, he is first in the Ultimate Fighting Championship among middleweights and sixth among men in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Who Is Israel Adesanya?
Israel Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria, on July 22, 1989. His father, Oluwafemi, is an accountant, and his mother, Taiwo, is a nurse. Israel is their first child. He went to Chrisland School, Opebi, when he was younger and learned Taekwondo there.
In 1999, Adesanya moved with his family to Ghana, where they stayed for ten months. Then they picked up and moved to Rotorua, New Zealand. Adesanya went to Rotorua Boys’ High School at the time.
After that, he went to Whanganui to study computer design at the Universal College of Learning. Around this time, Adesanya started training in kickboxing, and in the end, he decided to skip college and go into kickboxing full-time instead.
Know About Israel Adesanya Professional Career
Before he turned pro, Adesanya had an impressive record of 32-0 in amateur kickboxing. He won his first seven fights as a professional, which was a great start. In 2016, Adesanya took part in the Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament. He won after beating Robert Thomas in the final by a split decision.
Later, he went to Los Angeles to fight Jason Wilnis for the Glory Middleweight Championship, but he lost by a controversial unanimous decision. At Glory of Heroes 7, Alex Pereira and Adesanya fought for the second and last time, and Adesanya was knocked out.
Also read: Little America Season 2 Release Date, Cast, PLot, & Trailer!
In 2012, Adesanya won a TKO match against James Griffiths for his first professional MMA fight. After his second TKO win against John Vake, Adesanya stopped doing mixed martial arts for two years. He fought Song Kenan again in 2015 and knocked him out.
Adesanya has fought mostly on the Chinese and Oceanian circuits and has a perfect record of 8.0. At UFC 221, he fought Rob Wilkinson for the first time. The fight ended when Adesanya was disqualified for a technical knockout. This was the first time in his career that he got a bonus for being the best performer of the night.
The next time he fought was at UFC on Fox 29, where he won a split decision over Marvin Vettori. A few months later, Adesanya beat Brad Tavares by a unanimous decision. He was again named the night’s Outstanding Performer.
Later in the year, Adesanya had even more success when he knocked out Derek Brunson to win the main event at UFC 230. At UFC 234, which took place early in 2019, he beat Anderson Silva in the main event and won. At UFC 236, in April 2019, Adesanya fought Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship.
In their epic battle, Adesanya won because everyone agreed with him. In the fall of that year, at UFC 243, he beat Robert Whittaker and won the UFC Middleweight Championship. At UFC 248, Adesanya fought Yoel Romero for the first time to defend his belt. He won by unanimous decision.
At UFC 253, he defended his title against Paulo Costa, who had never lost before, with a technical knockout. When Adesanya challenged Jan Bachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in 2021, it was the first time he had lost in mixed martial arts.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71214497/1406456727.0.jpg)
At UFC 263, he got back in the swing of things and beat Marvin Vettori again to win the Middleweight Championship. At UFC 271, in 2022, Adesanya defended his title against Robert Whittaker and won for the second time.
Also read: Know About Cast Of The Survivor 44 – Details!
What Is Israel Adesanya’s Net Worth?
Israel “Ismael” Adesanya, a professional MMA fighter and kickboxer from New Zealand, has a net worth of $4 million. Israel Adesanya has won a number of championships. He was once a challenger for the Glory Middleweight Championship in kickboxing. He is also a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who fights in the UFC. Most people in MMA agree that Adesanya is one of the best strikers. In 2019, he won the UFC Middleweight Championship.