Adesanya made his UFC debut on February 11, 2018, earning a second-round stoppage win over Rob Wilkinson.
He won four additional fights in the next 364 days and followed that up with an outstanding effort in the deciding fifth round of his interim title fight with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, setting up a title unification bout with Robert Whittaker at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on October 6, 2019.
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Adesanya’s rise had been so impressive that it felt like there was no other way this fight was going to end than with him hoisting the middleweight title aloft, but how he made it happen is part of what made it so special.
Right before the buzzer at the end of the first round, Adesanya landed a right hand that put Whittaker on the deck. If there were any time remaining, the fight would have been done; that’s how clearly hurt Whittaker was in that instance.
Whittaker came out pressuring and chasing opportunities in the second, and while he found some success early, Adesanya ultimately made him pay. As “The Reaper” rushed in, Adesanya leaned back out of range and countered, stinging him on multiple occasions, and when they set their feet and traded late in the round, Adesanya’s quickness to the target proved to be the difference.
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A left hand found Whittaker’s jaw and sent him tumbling backwards to the canvas, and referee Marc Goddard was quick to step in when the coffin nails started coming.
Less than two years after making his promotional debut, Adesanya claimed the middleweight throne, and he’s yet to relinquish it.