#KiwiUFC: Israel Adesanya Gets The Job Done
Coming to the octagon after the glorious encounter between champion Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the UFC women's strawweight division, Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero put on a show that ain't going to be described as fan-friendly. Fighting for the UFC middleweight strap, Adesanya and Romero barely engaged in a fight that will be quickly forgotten.
Right from the start of the fight, Romero made his intentions clear as he got into his rhythm of doing nothing. Keep my #KiwiUFC bias in mind here because I'm of the opinion that Adesanya didn't do much wrong and this was an incredibly strange outing from Romero, who opted for defence and minimal output. This ploy from Romero worked as Adesanya's at his best when he scopes out the moves his opponent is making, usually in reaction to the shots and faints that Adesanya is throwing and Adesanya can then set up his arsenal of strikes that come in counter to those of his opponent.
If Adesanya's opponent, Romero in this case isn't throwing anything, then Adesanya is in an awkward spot. When Romero does throw his bombs, he can do serious damage and this fight quickly became a case of risk and reward for Adesanya; chasing Romero opened Adesanya up to an over-hand punch from Romero in the first round, so Adesanya went down the 'pick him apart' route.
As champion, Adesanya played his role nicely. As challenger, Romero showed little interest in genuinely hunting Adesanya down and that's odd when you're so close to getting that title belt.
Many folks will blow over Adesanya's performance here, although I view this as a key moment in Adesanya's UFC career. Adesanya dismantled Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson in his first four UFC fights, then came the fun match up against Anderson Silva. In these fights, Adesanya showcased himself as a fighter, giving fans and the UFC an insight into his variety of skills and persona in the octagon.
Then came a war against Kelvin Gastelum in which Adesanya went five rounds and put on a brutal performance with Gastelum. Adesanya showed everyone the ability to pass the mental barrier, to go deep and demand the belt. In defeating Robert Whittaker in the following fight, Adesanya out-classed Whittaker with his counter-attack style and combined the ability to process his opponents actions quickly with a ruthlessness to finish the fight.
Two different fights against two of the best in the division. In defeating Romero, Adesanya showed he can win ugly and when chasing a win, the desires of those watching fall behind the fact that Adesanya in this case is simply trying to win a title fight. Three of the best middleweights in the UFC have all lost to Adesanya in different ways and Adesanya can add 'getting the job done' to the two victories previously.
Adesanya's read of Romero and how he was operating caught my eye, especially having received some heavy blows from Romero when the Cuban did open up. There is a sussing out period for Adesanya and it's low key beautiful to see the process in action, although against Romero it was fairly easy to read. However it happens, I've come to enjoy the opening exchanges of Adesanya's fights as I'm not just watching him physically fight, there's a tangible element to his mental processing of his opponent.
The other major takeaway was Adesanya's takedown defence and scramble. Romero attempted three takedowns, all of which came in the last two rounds and while it's tricky to say what intensity Romero offered in those takedowns, they did nothing to Adesanya. The most notable saw Adesanya drop his hips forward towards the mat, feet and legs back and no effect.
Romero also lunged forward a few times with quasi-takedowns that featured concentrated outbursts of punches from Romero, backing Adesanya up to the cage. This was when Adesanya would appear to be running away and it was exactly that as Adesanya scrambled out of dangerous positions with someone who is physically stronger than him and has heavy hands. Adesanya has 86 percent takedown defence and that means Adesanya snuffs 86 percent of his opponents takedown attempts; in his last five fights there as only been one successful takedown on Adesanya.
Perhaps us kiwis in Aotearoa may be the folks who can find the most beauty in Adesanya's performance because Adesanya simply got the job done. That's how kiwis operate and in many different environment, kiwis have a reputation of getting the job done and there is a sense of reliability that comes with that. No kiwi is going to enter any situation like Romero in this fight, that's not the kiwi way of doing business and because of our nature, kiwis tend to find themselves in the jandals of Adesanya in coming up against a person, opponent or situation that resemble Romero.
Adesanya paid homage to his Nigerian roots with his walk out to the octagon and then put on a sensationally kiwi display. Shit hit the fan quickly vs Romero and Adesanya did what was required to keep his belt and move on to the next opportunity, doing what every kiwi prides themselves on doing in getting the job done.
Adesanya's corner for this fight: Eugene Bareman, Mike Angove, Andrei Paulet and Tristram Apikitoa.
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Peace and love 27.