How many non-championship fights has Israel Adesanya fought in UFC?
Israel Adesanya isn't lacking for motivation ahead of his UFC Saudi Arabia fight at UFC Fight Night 250, his first non-title bout in years.
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Israel Adesanya doesn’t lack motivation ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia fight at UFC Fight Night 250 (Source: IMAGO)
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya makes his first UFC non-title bout appearance this Saturday at UFC Riyadh. He meets surging contender Nassourdine Imavov for it. Defeating Imavov will move him one step closer to a potential return to the 185-pound title picture following back-to-back slumps. The duo headlines the Saudi Arabia fight at UFC Fight Night 250 card at ANB Arena in Riyadh.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the UFC Fight Night 250 headliner recently. The fight was first reported by Knockout Alerts and ESPN’s Andreas Hale. 35-year-old Israel Adesanya is looking to end the first multi-loss streak of his MMA career. Coming back into the fold in his first non-title bout in almost six years might just be the change of pace he needs.
How many non-title bouts has Israel Adesanya fought in?
UFC Saudi Arabia (UFC Fight Night 250) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will mark Adesanya’s first non-title fight since 2019. It breaks a string of 12 consecutive bouts with championship gold on the line. As opposed to that, “Last Stylebender” has only been in 5 non-title bouts!
Fresh from GLORY kickboxing days, WLF: E.P.I.C.: Elevation Power and Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) 20, Israel Adesanya made his debut at UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold. After that, he eked past Marvin Vettori (split decision) at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Gaethje. He yet again outpaced Brad Tavares at the TUF 27 Finale.
Adesanya’s first UFC foray into his excellent spatial management and striking came in a first-round KO vs. Derek Brunson at UFC 230. After that, the Kiwi-Nigerian blasted off like none other. At UFC 234, he took on UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva. After the main event of the card fell apart due to Robert Whittaker‘s illness, the UFC promoted Adesanya vs. Silva as the feature headliner. Subsequently, it didn’t disappoint.
Izzy showed off his acute striking prowess and deliberate swagger against “Spider”. After three rounds of highly competitive action, Adesanya earned the unanimous nod on the judges’ scorecards. The fight was a clear ‘passing of the torch’ as a new era began in the UFC middleweight division. The rest, as one says, is history.
Did Israel Adesanya’s competitive level tank after this?
The short of it, No… it did not. There is always a debate to be made where contender Izzy has more under than even a prime champ Izzy. After his upset decision loss to Sean Strickland in September 2023, his CityKickboxing NZ camp floated that he had lost his spark working up to it. Additionally, the same happened to Strickland himself when he fought a shelled-up war.
Adesanya dropped his bid for Dricus Du Plessis‘s gold in August and was submitted in Round 4. But it was an all-out war between the two high-level middleweights. It proved that he still has it to get back into the pecking order just fine. The former two-time UFC middleweight champ says he can do the same at UFC Saudi Arabia (UFC Fight Night 250).
Adesanya did indeed work through. Out of his 4 title-bout losses, this is the only back-to-back strain. Along with Kamaru Usman and Alexander Volkanovski, the CKB star went on a historic 5-0 defense in his first reign. His wars with Alex Pereira are as good as they come. “Poatan” defeated his rival at UFC 281, and Adesanya regained the undisputed gold with a second-round KO at UFC 287 PPV. Pereira has a 3-1 record in MMA and GLORY Kickboxing over him and has since ended that rivalry.
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) finds himself where he hasn’t been for almost six years with yet another non-title bout. While a shoo-in for a spot for a Hall of Wing someday, his run isn’t over yet. Come this February, he would be ready.
Related: UFC Fight Night shows will become PPV level events, but only outside the United States
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