Israel Adesanya: A Chance To Shine

Israel Adesanya: A Chance To Shine

By Jordan McKenzie

Israel Adesanya has his chance to shine at UFC 236 with an interim title-fight now firmly on the horizon. The undefeated Adesanya will face Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title at UFC 236 on April 13.

The UFC middleweight division is currently in another state of limbo with the high-profile injury of champion Robert Whittaker. Whittaker pulled out of his planned UFC 234 bout with Kelvin Gastelum just hours before the fight and underwent surgery for a hernia and a collapsed bowel. In order to prevent the division from stagnating, the UFC has decided on creating an interim championship with Kelvin Gastelum fighting Israel Adesanya for the strap.

Fresh from his unanimous victory over Anderson Silva at UFC 234,‘The Last Stylebender’ immediately called for the UFC to strip Whittaker of his title and give him his shot at the gold.

“Honestly, you know when Dominick Cruz kept hurting himself and got surgery after surgery after surgery? The UFC stripped him, and this is another one of those. You can’t hold up the whole division. My idea is strip him, take the belt off him, and me and Kelvin fight for the real belt. Then when he’s all healed up and 100 percent, he can come see me and challenge for the belt”.

UFC president Dana White heeded Adesanya’s word and he will have his chance to shine against Gastelum on April 13.

Ever since his emergence in the UFC, Adesanya has been on the radar of fight fans thanks to his flamboyant fighting style and enigmatic character. After an impressive start to his UFC career, with 3 wins in a row, there were calls for him to face tougher opposition. This came at UFC 230, in the form of Derek Brunson, an established fighter who has locked horns with the likes of Yoel Romero, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva.

The match-up with Brunson was designed to test the mettle of Adesanya and see how he would perform if when dragged into stormy waters. The reality was anything but. Adesanya arrived in purring form, displaying a stunning array of strikes to dispatch Brunson in the first round, with relative ease.

Post-fight, Adesanya immediately called out, arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Anderson Silva. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has professed on many occasions that Silva is one of his idols and was the reason for him taking up MMA, which created the perfect narrative for the fight. After being bumped up to the headline of UFC 234, due to the aforementioned absence of Whittaker, Adesanya cruised to a unanimous victory, to set up his title showdown with Gastelum.

It is clear to see that Adesanya has all the tools necessary to become, not only a world champion, but a superstar within the UFC. His brash arrogance, fearlessness and eye-catching style is the perfect recipe for a fan favourite and PPV headliner. All he needs now is the ideal stage in order to showcase his true abilities to the masses. UFC 236 provides that platform and a stunning KO over Gastelum would propel Adesanya into superstardom.

If Adesanya is able to prevail and become the middleweight interim champion, a fight against the formidable Whittaker awaits, in what would be an event for the ages.

Kevlin Gastelum is no push-over however. An elite level wrestler with a respectable stand-up game, Gastelum certainly has the ability to spoil the party and set up the title fight that he so desperately deserves. This makes the bout all the more relishing and UFC 236 is sure to provide fireworks, regardless of who wins.