Unanimous Decision Victory Of The Best Nigerian-Born MMA Fighter Versus Brad Tavares
There were many fans who were wondering will Israel Adesanya be gassed too soon or his pace will simply be too slow for such an opponent like Brad Tavares. But Adesanya showed that, despite he didn’t have experience at all five-round fights, he can win anybody. At the main event at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale, he fought against a tremendous Middleweight contender Brad Tavares.
Almost everybody was thinking the opponent is tough but not Israel Adesanya himself. The decorated kickboxer from New Zealand surprised all “wise men” at the Pearl Theatre in Las Vegas on Friday night, when he scored a unanimous decision victory. The judges scored the fight 49-46, 50-45, 50-45, which made him progress to the score of 14-0 MMA and 3-0 UFC. (via MMAFighting.com)
“All the pundits, and all the experts said ‘too soon, he’s only had two fights in the UFC,’” Adesanya said. “He’s a tough dude. These islanders, they have tough heads.”
Israel Adesanya has already built a reputation by defeating big and dangerous opponents – just remember his impressive victory over Melvin Guillard. This fight wasn’t much different – Adesanya was circling and delivering his world-class stand-up strikes with maximum precision not letting his opponent lead the game.
On the other side, Brad Tavares was simply unable to demonstrate his superb wrestling skills this time. In the second round, Tavares was able to deliver solid overhead counter punches but Israel Adesanya rocked him with a liver kick and sent him to the ground. Since that moment, only one fighter was dominating the octagon – The Last Stylebender.
Body shot drops Tavares!@Stylebender lands a nasty liver kick, but Tavares recovers! #TUF27 pic.twitter.com/YyAufXq5gN
— UFC (@ufc) July 7, 2018
HUGE right hand backs Tavares up. @Stylebender looking sharp through three rounds! #TUF27 pic.twitter.com/xBFJBiAoki
— UFC (@ufc) July 7, 2018
Adesanya demonstrated the brutality of his elbows in the fourth round when he cut Brad Tavares open with a slashing right elbow which opened up a cut on his face. The referee called the timeout and checked Tavares before letting him continue the fight.
That elbow tho …@Stylebender #TUF27 pic.twitter.com/zXeRXU4N5C
— UFC (@ufc) July 7, 2018
From that moment, Tavares was a lot weaker. He was shooting in during the fifth rounds but these were only unsuccessful takedown attempts. Israel Adesanya remained dominant throughout the game and won in a spectacular way.
🗣 And Still undefeated! @Stylebender dominates in the #TUF27 main event! pic.twitter.com/1RXS5Hw95e
— UFC (@ufc) July 7, 2018
“My first main event,” Adesanya said. “I’m just getting warmed up. Give me some time.”
Tavares dropped to the MMA score of 17-5 (11-5 UFC), as his four-fight win streak has come to an end. What do you think, can Israel Adesanya challenge some more serious names now? Is there anyone who would like to see this Nigerian-born elite kickboxer facing Yoel Romero or Robert Whittaker?
