Israel Adesanya silenced the 57,000 crowd with a stunning second-round knockout of Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne on Sunday. But “Stylebender” would have told you it was destiny.
The high-level striker boasts a 75-4 kick-boxing record, was a three-time King in the Ring champion and has been fighting MMA professionally since 2012. His success is certainly no fluke.
The haters often unfairly rip into his lack of wrestling and jiu-jitsu experience and cite his brutal knockout loss to Glory’s current kick-boxing double champion Alex Pereira in 2017. That only further fuelled Adesanya to humbly refine his MMA skill set over the years.
“After that [loss] I realised my dog still loves me, my coaches still love me, my parents still love me … I’ve risen like a phoenix,” he said at the post-event press conference in Australia.
The Nigerian-New Zealander is now finely positioned as the perfect character to take the UFC reins post-Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor.
He has that rare, unteachable “it factor” that UFC president Dana White searches for in fighters; he has instant classic sound bites, like “I don’t throw and hope, I aim and fire”; he has awesome showmanship, evidenced by his flamboyant Octagon walkout, fusing the Kiwi Haka with Nigerian dancing and reiterating why there is not and will never be anyone else like him.
“I’m an entertainer. This is my show. Who else is going to do that before they go and whoop some a**?” Adesanya said casually after knocking out a champion in Whittaker who was on a nine-fight win streak and had gone 10 rounds with human breeze block Yoel Romero.
Attentive fans will also recall Adesanya’s peculiar miming as announcer Bruce Buffer introduced him in the Octagon. The 30-year-old took an imaginary notebook out of his back pocket, scribbled something down, and tucked it away while eyeing the cameras. Most assumed it had something to do with the crowd’s overwhelming support of home favourite Whittaker.
In fact, Adesanya was paying homage to renowned Japanese anime Death Note, in which the protagonist discovers a notebook that gives the holder power to kill anyone by simply writing their name on the page. The Shinigami – or “death gods” – are the otherworldly characters that make it happen.
“[Whittaker] is known as the grim reaper, right? I have a Shinigami with me,” Adesanya explained. “I had to write his name because I knew. Those who know the rules of the Death Note – that after your name is written, the Shinigami will get you.”
Even his nickname, “The Last Stylebender”, refers to popular television show Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which the four elements – water, earth, fire, and air – grapple to maintain world order. There is a fair argument for “style” to be added after that performance.
As niche as these references are, Adesanya is injecting a strange yet remarkable aura into the promotion.
When I spoke to Glory co-founder Scott Rudmann in October 2017, he had already recognised then-Glory middleweight contender Adesanya’s potential and went in-depth about the transition required from kick-boxing to MMA. He cited legendary kick-boxers and current UFC fighters Alistair Overeem and Gokhan Saki.
Adesanya signed for the UFC two months later and has not looked back. Another 20 months on and this crisp-striking, smooth-talking, anime-loving meme lord has reached the sport’s very top (it took McGregor 21 months, by the way).
Aside from Whittaker, he has dominant wins over MMA legend Anderson Silva and the durable and dangerous contender Kelvin Gastelum, and has done it all out of the humble City Kick-boxing gym in Auckland, New Zealand.
The uninformed may continue to mock Adesanya’s wiry frame, and what they see as forced swagger and trash talking. But those who know his combat history are aware that he has been proving the naysayers wrong his entire career.
“I showed you guys I can take [punches] and give them as well. But apparently I’ve got pillow hands. Boo hoo,” Adesanya sarcastically said post fight.
When he talks legacy and attributes his success to visualisation and “deja-vu”, he reminds of the UFC’s two biggest current draws, Jon Jones and Conor McGregor. It is time to make room for one more.
Adesanya is leading MMA into a new era – granted, one that will probably have people reading up on Japanese cartoons, but also one that has never been seen before. He truly is the Stylebender.
