Israel Adesanya title defenses: Has 'The Last Stylebender' beaten Anderson Silva's record yet?
Israel Adesanya is one of the most dominant champions to grace the UFC, and has been a mainstay in the middleweight title picture for quite some time.
He recently beat long-time rival, Alex 'Poatan' Pereira to re-capture the 185 lbs strap. Adesanya lost to Pereira earlier at UFC 281, bringing an end to his first stint as the middleweight champion.
'The Last Stylebender's' next fight will be the main event of UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, and will take place on September 9th. His opponent will be none other than Sean Strickland.
This will be Israel Adesanya's 11th straight title fight in the last five years. With a win, Adesanya would have notched his sixth title defense, leaving him four fights behind the legendary Anderson Silva.
Adesanya defeated Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 to capture interim gold, and then, unified it by knocking out then-champion, Robert Whittaker at UFC 243. Since then, Adesanya racked up five defenses, beating Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Jared Cannonier and Robert Whittaker for the second time.
His dominance has prompted comparisons to the great Anderson Silva, who was also a long-reigning champion at 185 lbs. Silva's record, however, eclipses Israel Adesanya's title reign. Anderson Silva captured middleweight gold at UFC 64, when he knocked out Rich Franklin.
Since then, Silva embarked on a legendary run of 10 straight title defenses, beating the likes of Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen, among others.
Silva's run came to a rather shocking end, when Chris Weidman caught him showboating and knocked him out at UFC 162. In their rematch, Silva broke his leg in one of the most horrific injuries in UFC history and has not competed for a title since.
Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva faced each other in what many believe to be a passing of the torch from one generation to the next. Silva, who is a dynamic and creative striker much like Adesanya himself, lost via decision to 'The Last Stylebender.'
Check out the highlights from their fight here: