Watch: 25-year-old Israel Adesanya doing boxing drills before beating 3 boxers on the same night
Israel Adesanya amassed vast experience in various striking disciplines before transitioning to mixed martial arts. Apart from a phenomenal kickboxing pedigree, 'The Last Stylebender' has also earned various accolades in pro boxing.
Fans have recently been treated to footage of Adesanya doing some boxing drills ahead of the Super 8 cruiserweight tournament. The footage dates back to March 2015, a week before the third Boxing Super 8 cruiserweight tournament at the Horncastle Arena in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Watch Israel Adesanya doing some footwork and head movement drills below:
Israel Adesanya went on to beat three boxers on the same night to win the third Boxing Super 8 cruiserweight tournament. 'The Last Stylebender' defeated Asher Derbyshire via second-round KO in the quarter-finals to advance to the semis. Adesanya picked up a majority decision win over Lance Bryant in the semi-finals and a split decision win over Brian Minto in the final to win the tournament.
The UFC middleweight champion also competed in the second and fourth Boxing Super 8 tournaments in the cruiserweight division. Adesanya was eliminated in the first round via a unanimous decision loss to Daniel Ammann at Boxing Super 8 II.
'The Last Stylebender' went on to win the fourth tournament, which had only four participants.
Israel Adesanya has had only 7 losses in 108 fights across Kickboxing, MMA and Boxing. https://t.co/9pws7moXPF
Jared Cannonier notes the advantage Israel Adesanya will have over Alex Pereira in upcoming title fight
Israel Adesanya will put his middleweight crown on the line against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 on November 12. Pereira already has two kickboxing wins over Adesanya, which propelled 'Poatan' to a UFC title shot with just seven pro MMA outings under his belt.
According to Adesanya's most recent opponent Jared Cannonier, the champion will have one advantage over Pereira. Cannonier believes 'The Last Stylebender' has successfully altered his kickboxing stance to make it better suited to MMA. Meanwhile, Cannonier finds Pereira's stance vulnerable to being exploited in a MMA fight.
'The Killa Gorilla' recently told Helen Yee:
“It definitely favors Izzy more. He’s been here longer. He’s had all these five-round championship fights with the best in our sport, so it’s definitely different. He definitely has the experience in that regard. He’s altered his kickboxing style more for MMA. Alex still has sort of a kickboxing base, his stance. Not to say that it’s a detriment to him, but it can be exploited as far as MMA goes. I think the advantage lies with Israel in that regard.”
Watch Jared Cannonier's interview with Helen Yee below: