Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and former boxer. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of 12 September 2023, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings, and as of 14 November 2023, he is #9 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Adesanya won five of his next six fights, including victories over Yousri Belgaroui and Bogdan Stoica. His loss came at the hands of future GLORY Middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who won by unanimous decision.
Adesanya participated in the 2016 Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament. He defeated Robert Thomas by unanimous decision in the semifinals, and won the tournament with a split decision victory over Yousri Belgaroui. He fought Jason Wilnis for the Glory Middleweight championship at Glory 37: Los Angeles. Wilnis won the fight by unanimous decision, although the result was considered controversial.
His last kickboxing fight, before transitioning to mixed martial arts, was a rematch with Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7. Pereira won the fight by knockout, after dropping Adesanya with a short left hook in the third round.
