UFC 234 News: Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva targeted for UFC 234 at Melbourne, Australia
What's the story?
UFC 234 is all set to take the stage on February 9th in Melbourne, Australia, at the Rod Laver Arena. As stated by ESPN's Brett Okamoto, UFC president Dana White has set his eyes on a middleweight co-main event bout between Anderson Silva and Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya. Coming off of what will be a two-year layoff, does "The Spider" have what it takes to beat arguably one of the organizations hottest property?
In case you didn't know..
UFC 230 witnessed a middleweight bout between two top contenders in Israel Adesanya and Derek Brunson, who were going head-to-head in a much-awaited main card fight. "Stylebender" seemed to be operating at a whole different level of striking and was also able to stuff the takedowns that Brunson was shooting for during the fight. After just four minutes and fifty-one seconds into the first round, Adesanya sealed the deal with a poised technical knockout victory over Brunson.
Anderson Silva last competed, ironically, against the very same opponent that Adesanya faced at UFC 230. Silva fought Brunson in February of 2017 at UFC 208, where he managed a controversial unanimous decision win over the former American Division II wrestler. Following this win, Silva was re-scheduled to face fellow middleweight contender, Kelvin Gastelum on November 25th, 2017. Silva, however, tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, methyltestosterone, and was hence forced to pull-out from the bout by USADA.
The heart of the matter
On November 24th, 2018, ESPN's Brett Okamoto, claimed to know the happenings of the co-main event fight, set to take place at UFC 234. He stated that Israel Adesanya would be taking on an Anderson Silva, who is set to return to the Octagon on February 9th, 2019, at Melbourne, Australia. Silva, who has suffered four successive losses before his win against Brunson, will be going against Adesanya, who has featured in four back-to-back victories, this past year.
Israel Adesanya is currently the number-sixth ranked middleweight contender in the world and will be looking to scale higher up the rankings post the Silva fight. Silva vs Adesanya has been planned for the co-main event slot at UFC 234, whilst the main event will belong to Whittaker, who will be defending his middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum.
What's next?
Going into this fight, fight fans would like to believe that Israel Adesanya will be holding the upper hand against an Anderson Silva, who most would consider, is past his prime.
Will we see a comeback from "The Spider" at UFC 234, or will we witness the beginning of a new era in "The Last Stylebender"?
Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!