Israël Aesanya can rank one of the greatest UFC hunters of all time, but where he ranks his greatest hunters, MMA fans could have in the weapons.
'The Last Stylebender' had six title defenses and two title government in the Middleweight Division and at some point looked inviolable. That was his dominance in the middleweight division that Adesanya challenged for a double camp status against Jan Bachowicz for the light heavyweight throne. Blachowicz expressed Adesanya and handed him his first professional defeat.
The loss did not hang in the heads of UFC fans, who knew that Adesanya's bread was buttered in the middleweight division. This was until Alex Pereira took the belt from Adesanya in UFC 281. Pereira lost the Rematch, but Adesanya has not been the same since then and two fights dropped.
Now, in his first non-thin-title fight since 2019 in UFC Riyadh, Adesanya de Luxe has to sit on the sidelines of the championship. From here he has taken the opportunity to rank his largest UFC hunters.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Israel Adesanya ranks his UFC Mount Rushmore
Speaking with collective media on the UFC Riyadh Media Day, Adesanya was asked to call his MMA Mount Rushmore. Adesanya mentioned Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre as his five names. However, Adesanya clarified that his list varies based on his temperament.
“I had Chuck Liddell there yesterday,” said Adesanya. “Because of the impact he had in the game as a hunter.”
A reporter asked Adesanya why he did not mention Khabib Nurmagomedov, to which Adesanya replied that his list was not put in stone.
“He is of course one of the biggest,” Adesanya noted. “Like I said, yesterday I mentioned Chuck Liddell. Khabib is another man who is one of the best of all time … “
High-Stakes fight for Israel Adesanya at UFC Saudi Arabia
Adesanya takes on Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia on 1 February. No. 5 Ranged Middleweight Imavov has a 7-1 (1NC) UFC record, the most recently understood Brendan Allen's Zeven-Vecht Winning Streak in September 2024.
'The Sniper' drives a three-fighter-winning series and combines his slick boxing with forward pressure to overwhelm his opponents. It is one-of-who for Adesanya, who could be confronted with three losses in a row with a defeat, who would immediately throw him back in the lower-ranking middleweight meat access.
A loss for Adesanya would mark one of the biggest falls from Grace in recent UFC history. Although fans are all too familiar with the feeling, watching great hunters such as BJ Penn, Tony Ferguson and Cody Garbrandt have remarkable career finishes.
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