With a laser-guided counter left to the jaw of Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya is the new king of the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, the 11th man to hold that undisputed title.
Sherdog’s 2018 “Breakthrough Fighter of the Year” has taken the UFC by storm, winning seven straight fights in under two years while rising to superstardom in an industry starved for marketable champions. Adesanya’s defeat of Whittaker at UFC 243 also put an end to one of the most snake-bitten title reigns in UFC history, but then again the middleweight division has always been a frustrating one.