Since arriving in the UFC in 2018, Israel Adesanya has drawn comparisons to Anderson Silva. Two of the most elite strikers in the history of the UFC and not only are they in the same weight class, they have fought each other before. Just over three years ago, Silva and Adesanya fought in the main event of UFC 234 after an injury to then Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at the eleventh hour thrust them into the main event. The fight was everything the fans expected it to be, with the two strikers playing a game of cat and mouse with each other, an elite level chess match between two masters of avoiding damage while countering with vicious counter striking. In the end, Adesanya walked away with a Unanimous Decision victory in the last non-title bout of his UFC career so far. For many, this moment was seen as a passing of the torch moment as after the final bell, the two bowed in respect to each other.
Following the Silva bout, Adesanya won an interim title in a Fight Of The Year candidate with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 and would unify the belts at UFC 243 when he stopped Robert Whittaker in the second round. Since, he has defended the middleweight championship vs Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori, with an attempt to become a double champ coming up short when “The Last Stylebender” dropped a decision loss to then light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz.
So the question remains: Can Israel Adesanya surpass one of the greatest of all time? Its worth noting that while Silva never fought for the light heavyweight title while middleweight champion, he went undefeated at 205 pounds in the UFC, defeating the likes of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. Its easy to forget that Adesanya has only been in the UFC for four years, while Silva’s dominance extended seven years and ten title defences. Silva didn’t just clear out his division, outside his eventual losses to Weidman and his first fight with Chael Sonnen, Silva looked like an unbeatable fighter. Israel on the other hand has tasted defeat, but not at Middleweight and it appears that the holes that were exposed in Adesanya’s game have been filled. With only three title defences (so far) Adesanya has a long way to go but with how much he has evolved since he stepped into the UFC and how much his striking seems to emulate “The Spider’s”, it almost feels like a matter of time till Adesanya surpasses one of his hero’s monumental MMA career.
