At UFC 236 in April 2019, “The Last Stylebender” defeated Kelvin Gastelum in a vicious 25-minute brawl to win the interim middleweight championship.
Going into the last round, the winner of the fight of the year—which turned out to be one of the toughest nights of his career—was hanging in the balance.
A bruised and battered Adesanya was seen murmuring to himself just before the final frame began, saying: “You’re not going to beat me. I’m ready to pass away.
The next five minutes’ high stakes environment evidently encouraged the 34-year-old, as he went on to repeatedly knock Gastelum to the ground.
He received a 10-8 score from all three judges, which made the difference as he won by unanimous decision with scores of 48-46, 48-46, and 48-46.
During a later interview with UFC commentator and well-known podcast host Joe Rogan, Adesanya detailed his state of mind at that very moment.
“I call it ese diablo (that devil),” he said.
“He was looking at me and he just had this look and was swinging his hands. I said, ‘You’re not going to beat me. I’m prepared to die.’ And I meant that, man.
“I swear to God on my life, I meant that. I signed my death warrant right there. I was like, ‘If this is how I die, this is how I die.’ But you see me. I was trying to get him. I was trying to kill him.
“For me, if I’m ready to die, I’m ready to kill. You have to be willing to give something up as well. If he had done that to me and I didn’t wake up, so be it.”
Since then, Adesanya has defeated Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Jared Cannonier to establish himself as one of the greatest middleweight competitors ever.
The sole opponent to defeat him at 185 pounds was Alex Pereira, who was submitted by the New Zealander of Nigerian descent in their rematch at UFC 287 in April.
He will now defend his title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Adesanya is the overwhelming favorite to defeat Strickland, who has won his last two fights but had consecutive defeats to Pereira and Cannonier in 2022.
The brazen American, who is well-known for both his fighting prowess and his outrageous personality, has already been making trouble during his brief stay in Sydney.
Dana White, the president of the UFC, was compelled to pair Strickland with a minder after the latter struck a fan who said, “Izzy is going to f*** you up.”
Adesanya will be hoping he can fulfill that prediction at the Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday night without resorting to violence like he did against Gastelum.
