Israel Adesanya 'rearranged' future PFL champion's nose in gruesome UFC debut
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Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya returns to the octagon this weekend in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Saudi Arabia against a surging French 'Sniper'.
'The Last Stylebender' is hoping to get himself back in the win column and back in the title conversation; with the championship belt up for grabs the following week at UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland.
Ahead of Israel Adesanya's long-awaited return to action, it's time to revisit arguably his most brutal stoppage victory, when 'Stylebender' rearranged a future PFL champion’s face in one of the best debuts in UFC history.
Israel Adesanya's UFC debut couldn't have been any better or more brutal
The year is 2018 and with the UFC touching back down in Australia, the promotion finally welcomed fresh-faced striker Israel Adesanya to the middleweight mix.
The former kickboxing world champion had been offered a spot on the roster numerous times before but had declined to join the UFC until he'd fully rounded out his MMA skillset – a decision that was proven correct when he faced off against Rob 'Razor' Wilkinson at UFC 221.
Adesanya showed no signs of nerves, tagging Wilkinson on the feet and exhibiting solid defensive skills whenever 'Razor' was able to drag him down to the canvas in the first.
"Adesanya's starting to get a read on it," noted Jon Anik from cage side, as 'Stylebender' continued to defend takedown attempts and make Wilkinson pay with his slick striking skills.
With the second round ticking by, Adesanya continued to pile on the pressure with Wilkinson's face showing the damage from repeated knees up the middle and hooks around the guard.
"This is a punching bag right now," hailed the commentary desk.
With Wilkinson's face a mess and Adesanya showing no signs of letting up, referee Steve Perceval called a halt to the contest for the first TKO of Adesanya's UFC career.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC Executive David Shaw stated that with a debut victory in the bag, Adesanya represented a "pretty exciting fighter" to keep an eye on.
"We were really impressed by the way he competed tonight, got up really quickly when he was taken down, he was sort of a bit unpredictable in the way that he moved around the octagon.
"It was a great performance; the ceiling is pretty high for him… I know that Dana, Mick and Sean are very bullish on the potential with him."
Adesanya would go on to win his next eight UFC fights, including a sensational knockout win over Robert Whittaker to claim the middleweight title.
- UP NEXT: Israel Adesanya wants to 'throw hands' with surging middleweight after UFC Riyadh main event
Rob Wilkinson cited Israel Adesanya before his PFL title fight victory
That stoppage loss to Adesanya marked Rob Wilkinson's last fight in the UFC and after being let go by the promotion, 'Razor' would find himself competing back on the regional scene.
Wilkinson then made his way to the Professional Fighters League, where he earned three consecutive knockouts to secure himself a shot at the light heavyweight title in November 2022.
'Razor' would ultimately win that title bout via a second-round doctors' stoppage and would actually credit Adesanya with giving him the experience and skills to become PFL champion.
"I think some of it is from fighting Israel and going down and training at their gym and learning off those guys," Wilkinson told MMA Junkie about the change in form he'd seen since that final UFC loss.
"I thought I was ready to compete with those guys, but not to be fighting the top five guys in the world… Every fight I've had [since], it hasn't been training for that person, I've been training to be the best fighter I can be and be ready to compete against the best guys in the world.
"I definitely learned a lot from fighting and training with Israel and his team, but yeah, just made sure I was ready for when this opportunity came that I was ready to take it."
Israel Adesanya returns to the octagon this weekend in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia against streaking French contender and #5 ranked middleweight Nassourdine Imavov.
