#KiwiUFC: Israel Adesanya vs Yoel Romero Education Tool
This Sunday, Israel Adesanya has his second UFC middleweight title defence against Yoel Romero. The first saw Adesanya defend his interim belt against former champion Robert Whittaker, unifying matters to become the sole champ of the middleweight division and climbing to the top of the division in less than two years via seven UFC wins.
That's a crazy schedule for starters and as this is a #KiwiUFC educational piece for casual kiwi fight fans, Adesanya's hectic UFC run definitely isn't the norm. Adesanya has consistently stated that he wants to be active and taking four fights in 2018 followed by three fights in 2019 is active. The last year best reflects this though as Adesanya has fought legend Anderson Silva, then two of the best in the division in Kelvin Gastelum and Whittaker; dismantling all three over the course of a year.
Kiwi fight fans and those tuned into regular UFC matters will know all about Adesanya's wizardry and also how this fits into the UFC world. Some will even know what the rise of Adesanya and City Kickboxing represents for combat sports in Aotearoa as what we have now, is directly connected to Aotearoa's low key impressive history in combat sports. I've documented this through the #KiwiUFC journey, put simply: CKB is a kauri tree grown from seeds dropped by those kauri trees that came before them.
Below, are a bunch of notes with the intention to set the scene for kiwi sports fans. Hopefully they help your viewing experience and this is all stuff that I have enjoyed learning, educating myself and other than being deep in kiwi sporting matters, I'm no expert. I'm merely a crossroads of information...
Israel Adesanya is fighting Cuban Yoel Romero. Romero won a silver medal for wrestling at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, then transitioned into MMA in 2009.
Romero is 42-years-old. Yes, almost 43yrs and Romero is known as an athletic freak.
That's why Adesanya wants to fight him.
Romero has three losses in his last four fights, two against Robert Whittaker and a loss to Paulo Costa in August last year.
Adesanya was due to fight Costa and Adesanya's all over Costa as far as shit-talking goes. Costa conveniently booked a surgery instead, opening things up for Adesanya to pick his opponent.
Usually, two losses in a row don't lead one to a title fight. Romero is somewhat of a boogeyman in the division as most middleweights don't want to fight him, in true inspirational flying kiwi fashion, Adesanya said lessgo.
No one wants to fight Romero, Adesanya chose to fight Romero.
Adesanya would only do so, with the blessing of coach Eugene Bareman and the CKB coaching crew.
Under matua Eugene, CKB is known primarily for striking and leading the way in using faints/fakes in striking.
At the forefront of CKB's rise to be a top-three MMA team in the world (the best tbh), is a system that is layered with set ups, schemes and calculations.
CKB fighters and in this specific case Adesanya, will use faints to generate a reaction. That reaction will dictate how the following strikes are thrown, or put in the bank and set up movements for later in the fight.
Adesanya does this with punches, elbows and kicks - a full arsenal of strikes.
Adesanya also does this with a twist of his hips to faint a kick, or head movement to faint a punch.
You don't do what Adesanya has done with just strikes and faints though. Adesanya has consistently shown impressive takedown defence and through his UFC run, Adesanya has shown bits and pieces of offensive grappling/jiu-jitsu.
CKB have skilled wrestling/grappling coaches providing this balance.
The majority of Adesanya's UFC opponents have backgrounds in wrestling - Whittaker qualified for the Australian Commonwealth Games team as a wrestler. Adesanya's lit them all up.
Which brings us to Romero...
Romero, who despite his impressive wrestling background tends to rely on explosive strikes.
This is where things get funky as my feeling is that Romero will enter the world of Adesanya's striking. That's what Romero has done in the UFC and he has a gang of highlight-reel knockouts as a result.
Even if Romero wants to wrestle, Adesanya has an advantage via the distance he can operate at via his reach.
Adesanya is likely to fight from distance, picking Romero apart with his variety of strikes and this gives Adesanya time to scope out a takedown, either sliding backwards or dropping his hips to snuff the takedown attempt.
Romero loves to stand and bang though.
Romero will look tired throughout the fight.
Romero will have periods of inactivity.
Romero will explode with a strike, or combination.
That explosion can finish anyone.
Finish anyone, at any stage of the fight. Romero's last six KO/TKO wins have all come in the third round - the last round of these fights.
Usually, explosive fighters get their business done early before they run out of gas. Romero is a freak and finishes blokes late in the fight.
UFC title fights are five rounds, not three. Romero has two five-rounders vs Whittaker and Adesanya's last two fights have been of the Championship variety, thus they both know the deal.
Adesanya tends to observe in the opening stages of his fights.
Observing what his opponent is doing to him and observing how his opponent is reacting to Adesanya's strikes and/or faints. Enjoy this period where Adesanya is processing information, it's beautiful.
In defeating Whittaker, Adesanya allowed Whittaker to come forward and connected in a counter-punching style.
Adesanya's background as a dancer helps here as he has supreme control of his body and while he'll evade shots via his footwork, he can also evade shots with his feet planted - he leans back/twists from his torso.
With a solid base, Adesanya maintains power and precision when striking an opponent moving forward.
Other than Romero's possible takedowns, Adesanya will have to be weary of the sporadic nature of Romero's striking explosions.
Whittaker lunged at Adesanya, in rather predictable fashion from a viewers perspective. CKB are excessively knowledgeable of their opponent, so Whittaker's lunges would have been scouted and I have no doubt that Adesanya was able to see them coming.
Whether that's the case with Romero is an interesting element of this fight.
Everything about Romero is sporadic and explosive.
Adesanya can limit the effectiveness of Romero's explosions by dictating the fight, hurting Romero in the process and low key clouding Romero's mind with the faints.
Or Adesanya should be able to tune into cues when Romero explodes, counter-attacking from a powerful stance or moving backwards with an angle to counter.
I'm of the belief that Adesanya will control this fight and win.
Romero's wrestling and explosive striking could pose Adesanya some difficulties.
I suspect that Adesanya and CKB know that their style can be hugely effective against Romero, hence we have this fight. They know Romero is a monster, yet they also know how their style can be implemented to nullify Romero's strengths.
There is a chance that this is similar to Adesanya's win over Whittaker; plant striking seeds with faints, land from distance and enter range via craft, counter the opponent's lunges forward.
If Adesanya wins, he would have consecutive wins over Silva, Gastelum, Whittaker and Romero. In the UFC bubble, that is crazy.
As someone who lives in the kiwi sports bubble, Adesanya is already the best performer from Aotearoa. A win would be a double-down of this and there is no kiwi athlete/team who has been as dominant, on as big a platform as Adesanya.
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Peace and love 27.