It is no longer news that on April 9, Nigerian born professional Mixed Martial Artist, kickboxer and former boxer, Israel Adesanya, popularly known as The Last StyleBender, reclaimed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, after he knocked out Brazilian opponent Alex Pereira ‘Poatan’.
What is however news is that the handlers of the dare-devil martial artist have disclosed that he is right now waiting eagerly for the opponent who will be his next victim.
Adesanya’s strength and conditioning coach, Abiola Beckley, has told Trust Sports that against ‘Poatan’, the Ogun State born hard hitting kick-boxer was able to show all the hard work he did during the training camp and brought a whole new level to his game.
He said, “We are very happy with the victory and he did what he said he would do, ‘remind everyone how great he is’.
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Speaking on what to expect from the Last Stylebender, Abiola stated that only Israel or his Head Coach, Eugene, can answer that.
“However, at the moment, I guess he is just enjoying the victory. From my part, we will go back into the lab and continue building strength, until there is another person for us to prepare for.”
The 33-year-old Nigerian born mixed martial artist has a total record of 26 fights with 24 wins, 16 of which were by knockout in mixed martial arts.
In kickboxing, he has a total of 80 fights with 75 wins, and a total of 6 fights and 5 wins in professional boxing matches. As of the 21st of March 2023, Israel sits at the number 5 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
In May 2010, Adesanya won the first fight of his seven-fight winning streak, defeating Tim Atonio by unanimous decision. He won his next six fights, fighting almost exclusively with Wu Lin Feng in China.
Moving up in weight, Adesanya participated in the 2015 Heavyweights III, as well. He defeated Nase Foai by TKO in the quarterfinal and Dan Roberts by KO in the semifinal, before facing Jamie Eades in the finals.
Adesanya also participated in the 2016 Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament. He defeated Robert Thomas by unanimous decision in the semi-finals, and won the tournament with a split decision victory over Yousri Belgaroui.
His last kick-boxing fight, before transitioning to mixed martial arts, was a rematch with Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7. Pereira won the fight by knockout, after dropping Adesanya with a short left hook in the third round.
However, in their fourth meeting on April 9, The Last SyleBender literally shut up his critics and also got back his pound of flesh in style as he knocked out his less endowed opponent in the second round at the Miami-Dade Arena, Miami, Florida in the United States.
Adesanya had lost twice in kickboxing to Pereira in 2016 and 2017, and at UFC 281 in November, 2022.