One of the hottest young fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Israel Adesanya, took on and defeated his idol.
“The Last Stylebender” was brilliant against all-time great Anderson Silva in the replacement headline bout of UFC 234 Saturday night, out-striking Silva for three rounds. Adesanya (16-0) hurt “The Spider” with a short right to the jaw in the first, but he was unable to inflict enough follow-up punishment to put the Brazilian away.
Silva (34-9) rallied in the second by landing several combos of punches to the head, but the Nigerian regained control of the middleweight encounter with superb striking in the third.