UFC: Israel Adesanya Suffers First Career Defeat

The top of the UFC 259 billing saw the light heavyweight king,
Jan Blachowicz, take a unanimous decision over the middleweight
champion, Israel Adesanya, to keep his 205-pound belt.

The bout lasted all 25-minutes, in what was a rather technical
affair and an extremely close contest. Both men landed their
respective strikes, with Jan being the one who mixed in takedowns
and top control. It looks like Glover teixeira will be the next
challenge for Jan.

Adesanya kept his distance, pumping his jab and giving different
looks. Blachowicz looked to close the gap and land with his Polish
power. Both men were attacking the legs, and succeeding. Neither
man really opened up in what was a bit of a feeling out round.

Izzy has Jan biting on all sorts of feints to begin the second
round. The defending champ started to press forward, landing single
strikes. Adesanya responded with kicks to the leg of Jan, and then
the fighters started going strike for strike. There was an
accidental cup check from Izzy, but the break didn’t eat up too
much time.

Blachowicz got off to a great start in the third round. He was
scoring with his punches, and then hit a brief takedown. Izzy
responded with a hard hook, the same one that KO’d Robert
Whittaker. Jan backed off, and then clinched up with Adesanya
against the cage. Izzy broke free and started sticking straight
punches in Jan’s direction. Blachowicz started landing with his jab
before clinching up again against the cage.

Adesanya let his straight punches go, touching his target to
open the fourth. Jan tried to get another takedown, but Izzy was
able to remain vertical. Then, the defending champ started to score
with heavy punches, despite them landing one at a time. Then, it
was Izzy’s turn to land some punches. Jan switched gears and
blasted a takedown, pinning Izzy to the mat for over
three-minutes.

Adesanya seemed to be the fresher fighter going into the final
frame. Both men were landing jabs, but Izzy was making Blachowicz
miss a lot more. Adesanya scored with a slick spinning back kick to
the midsection, but Jan wore it quite well. Then, Blachowicz
blasted another takedown with half-a-round remaining in the fight.
Adesanya tried to improve his position.

Jan Blachowicz def. Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision
(49-46, 49-45 x2): Light Heavyweight Title

The top of the UFC 259 billing saw the light heavyweight king,
Jan Blachowicz, take a unanimous decision over the middleweight
champion, Israel Adesanya, to keep his 205-pound belt.

The bout lasted all 25-minutes, in what was a rather technical
affair and an extremely close contest. Both men landed their
respective strikes, with Jan being the one who mixed in takedowns
and top control. It looks like Glover teixeira will be the next
challenge for Jan.

Adesanya kept his distance, pumping his jab and giving different
looks. Blachowicz looked to close the gap and land with his Polish
power. Both men were attacking the legs, and succeeding. Neither
man really opened up in what was a bit of a feeling out round.

Izzy has Jan biting on all sorts of feints to begin the second
round. The defending champ started to press forward, landing single
strikes. Adesanya responded with kicks to the leg of Jan, and then
the fighters started going strike for strike. There was an
accidental cup check from Izzy, but the break didn’t eat up too
much time.

Blachowicz got off to a great start in the third round. He was
scoring with his punches, and then hit a brief takedown. Izzy
responded with a hard hook, the same one that KO’d Robert
Whittaker. Jan backed off, and then clinched up with Adesanya
against the cage. Izzy broke free and started sticking straight
punches in Jan’s direction. Blachowicz started landing with his jab
before clinching up again against the cage.

Adesanya let his straight punches go, touching his target to
open the fourth. Jan tried to get another takedown, but Izzy was
able to remain vertical. Then, the defending champ started to score
with heavy punches, despite them landing one at a time. Then, it
was Izzy’s turn to land some punches. Jan switched gears and
blasted a takedown, pinning Izzy to the mat for over
three-minutes.

Adesanya seemed to be the fresher fighter going into the final
frame. Both men were landing jabs, but Izzy was making Blachowicz
miss a lot more. Adesanya scored with a slick spinning back kick to
the midsection, but Jan wore it quite well. Then, Blachowicz
blasted another takedown with half-a-round remaining in the fight.
Adesanya tried to improve his position.

Jan Blachowicz def. Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision
(49-46, 49-45 x2): Light Heavyweight Title