After a fight that could be easily considered as the fight of the year at UFC 236 as "The Stylebender" Israel Adesanya has his eyes set on recovering and then facing the UFC Middleweight Champion Robert "The Reaper" Whittaker to unify the interim title with the one "The Reaper" holds. The Stylebender has plenty to look forward too as his championship career in the UFC with a stacked division that has all eyes on him if he gets past the undisputed champion.
Dana White confirmed that Israel Adesanya will indeed face Robert as it is the next fight to make. It is just a matter of where this fight as it will more than likely happen in Australia. Israel has expressed his interest in bringing the UFC into a stadium for this fight as it would be huge and guaranteed to sell out. It will be interesting to see how the champ Robert Whittaker approaches this bout as Israel has shown he only continues to improve.
With the 5 round war that took place at UFC 236, it was a bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya that really could of went either way if Adesanya did not continue to rock and put a brutal beating on Gastelum in the 5th round. Israel displayed everything in that fight as he faced adversity when he was rocked in the fight as he was met with a nasty head kick from Gastelum that could have ended the fight if Kelvin did not attempt a takedown. Israel Adesanya showed off a fantastic submission game too as he locked Gastelum into a Triangle Choke but he survived and broke out.
He would then put a beating on Kelvin Gastelum in the 5th and final round that ultimately won the decision of the judges as Kelvin Gastelum was left bloodied by the end of the 5th. With this huge victory, Israel Adesanya has skyrocketed in the organization. He has already had a target on his back but if he is able to finish off Robert Whittaker which will more than likely be in the summertime if Israel does not take an extended vacation the target will be even bigger.
The new UFC Interim Middleweight champion Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya has already caught the attention of the numerous top contenders in the division as there are a few fighters we seem to not be impressed by Israel Adesanya's rise through the UFC. Names like #2 ranked UFC middleweight Yoel Romero and rising star top contender #7 ranked Paulo Costa. #4 ranked Jacore Souza could potentially earn himself a title shot in his upcoming fight at UFC On ESPN 3. He has also received criticism from someone who many people would consider to be the best fighter in UFC and mixed martial arts history the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones.
The Stylebender has received harsh criticism from some but received plenty of praise from his peers and along with the fans in the mix martial arts community. More importantly, he has a fight with Robert Whittaker the UFC Middleweight Champion in Australia in a Stadium in the future,
