Israel Mobolaji Odunayo Oluwafemi Temitayo Owolabi Adesanya is a Nigerian-New Zealander professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines.
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As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title, challenger.
Adesanya made his professional debut in 2012, with a TKO win against James Griffiths. He scored another TKO win against John Vake, before taking a two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts.
In December 2017, it was announced that Adesanya had signed a contract with the UFC. He made his debut against Rob Wilkinson on 11 February 2018, at UFC 221.[53] He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.
Adesanya is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in mixed martial arts, both offensively and defensively. As of 23 August 2022, he is #2 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
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Israel Adesanya Children: Does Israel Adesanya have children?
According to various sources, the Nigerian-born New Zealand professional mixed martial artist has no children yet as he is currently focusing on his career.
Before taking up fighting, Adesanya regularly competed in dance competitions across New Zealand. He highlighted his passion for dance in a choreographed walkout at UFC 243.
Adesanya is a fan of anime and has stated he would like to start an anime production company after retiring from fighting. His nickname “The Last Stylebender” is a reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an anime-influenced cartoon series. Adesanya has the image of one of the show’s main characters, Toph Beifong, tattooed on his forearm.
In September 2020, he became the first mixed martial arts athlete to sign a sponsorship deal with Puma. Adesanya was also signed as an ambassador for Stake.com in January 2021.
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