Israel Adesanya will defend his UFC middleweight title for the third time in a rematch against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. Ahead of this title clash, let's take a look at Israel Adesanya's journey to the top of the UFC middleweight division.
Adesanya started his combat sports career as a kick boxer. He has a professional kickboxing record of 75-5 (27 T/KO).
Adesanya made his UFC debut against Rob Wilkinson at UFC 221. He claimed a spectacular second-round TKO victory and was also awarded the 'Performance of the Night' bonus.
'The Last Style Bender' defeated Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision and became the UFC interim middleweight champion.
Adesanya unified his interim title and became the UFC middleweight champion by defeating Robert Whittaker via KO in the second round.
Adesanya wanted to become a two-division champion by claiming the UFC light heavyweight title. But he failed as he suffered his first professional loss via unanimous decision against Jan Blachowicz. However, Adesanya is still undefeated in the UFC middleweight division.