WATCH: Israel Adesanya’s UFC Debut

The journey of Israel Adesanya to become one of the top fighters in UFC history began in February 2018. Only 14 months later, “The Last Stylebender” became interim UFC Middleweight Champion. Six months later, he would beat Robert Whittaker to become the undisputed Middleweight Champion.

Check out the UFC debut of Adesnaya (19-0), who was only 28 and 11-0 after a successful kickboxing career. The Nigerian-born fighter held onto Rob Wilkinson early and ended up by the fence. On their feet, Adesanya utilized kicks and was the aggressor with rights. In the second, Adesanya hit a hard head and body combination and was playing with his opponent. A high knee and uppercut stunned Wilkinson, and it was so nice Adesanya did the combination again. Drilling away at Wilkinson, the referee called off the fight.

Adesanya and Paulo Costa are looking to fight at some point this year for the UFC Middleweight Championship.