Israel Adesanya, “The Style Bender,” undefeated mixed martial artist, former AFC and Hex Fighting Series Middleweight champion, and now proud UFC fighter. This man has made waves with just one fight in the organization, and people are already comparing him to the likes of Jon Jones and Anderson Silva. The question is, can he live up to these great expectations, or will he be another Uriah Hall? I have an opinion on this, and I hope it sheds some light on how you feel about this fighter.
The Striking 
I will admit right now that I’m going to criticize some of Adesanya’s skills in this article, but man is his striking sharp! If he were to be given nothing but strikers throughout his UFC career, even high level guys like Hall or Michael Bisping, he could be the champion. Not to mention his style is so aesthetically pleasing. He has that throwback style to prime Anderson Silva, where he has weak-looking karate style punches that actually knock down and cut up his opponents, and wild spinning kicks that can come from any direction. His striking is the asset that will rocket him to the top of the division, and if he can manage to stay on his feet for the majority of his fights, the knockout will come.
The Wrestling
This is what makes me skeptical about Adesanya’s future in the UFC. He managed to get back to his feet for most of the fight against Rob Wilkinson in his debut, but he still got taken down and controlled against the fence. What would happen if he fought Chris Weidman or Johny Hendricks, two huge wrestlers? If they can get him to the floor, will they be able to control him? If his wrestling doesn’t get any better than it was in his debut, then he will have a clear blueprint set up as to how to beat him. I was impressed with how easily he was able to get up, but against someone who is a championship wrestler, you’re going to have to stuff the takedown in order to win the fight.
The Jiu-Jitsu
Adesanya’s wrestling might not be up to par, but I was impressed with his jiu-jitsu. He had a beautiful butterfly sweep off of a takedown against Rob Wilkinson, and while it didn’t give him the position he wanted, it showed that he knows what he’s doing off of his back. He’s a blue belt under the instruction of Andre Galvao (who you may know as a Bellator MMA veteran), and I feel that he might have some tricky submissions in his arsenal that we have yet to seen. If Israel can add some submission wins to his record in the future, then that’s an absolute game changer for securing his position as a top contender in the UFC.
The Athleticism
Another factor that stood out to me in his debut is that this kid is in shape. He’s tired of people comparing him to Jon Jones, but he really does look like a Middleweight Jon Jones. No matter how many times he had to work to get back to his feet through two rounds, he didn’t gas out. He was throwing non-stop strikes that packed big power, and he looked like he could have kept going for three more rounds. I don’t see Adesanya gassing out in any of his fights, and that’s another advantage he holds over some Middleweights that cut thirty to forty pounds.
The Personality
Above is a meme that Adesanya created and posted himself. This man is absolutely hilarious. He makes jokes inside the Octagon, he posts all kinds of memes at the expense of himself, he parties with his fans, he has a Deadpool tattoo, and the most obvious of all, his nickname is “The Last Stylebender.” I don’t think there has been any MMA fighter with a better personality than Israel Adesanya. If he did become champion, then I would be more than happy to have him represent the UFC.
The Conclusion
Can Israel Adesanya be the next Anderson Silva? That’s the question that I wrote this article to answer. No, he can’t. No one will ever be the next Anderson Silva. Israel Adesanya can be better than Anderson Silva or Jon Jones. He’s not a steroid cheat, he’s not a poor sportsman and he’s not a criminal. As far as composing himself and controlling his actions outside the Octagon, I think he might already be better than Silva. He has all of the ingredients to be as great as these fighters in UFC, he just has to put it all together, and be willing to do whatever it takes to get and defend the title. I think we will see Adesanya hold a UFC belt, and as far as being a future Hall of Famer, that’s entirely up to him.
