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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 07: Israel Adesanya of Nigeria battles Yoel Romero (not pictured) in their UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 248 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 07, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 07: Israel Adesanya of Nigeria battles Yoel Romero (not pictured) in their UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 248 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 07, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Israel Adesanya is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and growing to become one of the most-known faces of the sport in the world. The charismatic fighter has risen to the position of a champion and is looking to make his name bigger. He will be facing Jan Blachowicz for the Light Heavyweight Championship in a bid to become a double-champ.
However, Adesanya has business outside the Octagon as well. With his growing star power, a lot of people want Adesanya to be the face of their brand. His appeal goes beyond the sport of MMA and Izzy is on his way to mainstream commercial success. That point is further hammered home with Izzy’s latest commercial with Puma.
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Adesanya is proving that his profile is as enormous as it ever has been. He is on a monumental rise right now, and a loss to Blachowicz could definitely derail his progress. But Adesanya is showing the signs of burgeoning super-stardom, so hopefully, he is also hitting his prime inside the cage,
Israel Adesanya: Will Izzy make history at UFC 260?
Israel Adesanya can become the first man to hold both Middleweight and Light Heavyweight belts simultaneously if he can beat Blachowicz. If what happened with Conor McGregor is any proof, a win over Jan could catapult him into an echelon that no fighter outside Conor has reached in terms of public appeal.
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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – SEPTEMBER 25: Israel Adesanya of Nigeria poses on the scale. During the UFC 253 weigh-in on September 25, 2020 at Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
While it would be a little presumptuous to compare Conor and Izzy’s mainstream ability, Adesanya is the closest any new star has come to capturing the vibe that Conor had during his rise. Adesanya isn’t as at that level of a draw yet, but a win over Jan could be the biggest step he could take towards that.
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If Izzy was to somehow get Jon Jones back down to 205 to face him after Jan, his story would become that much more impressive. Adesanya is building a fantastic resume as a fighter. However, one misstep and he may need to rebuild. Fighters rebound from losses all the time. Izzy has faced defeat before as a kickboxer. It will be new in the MMA world, but Izzy will hope to build rather than rebuild after this fight.
