Adesanya became champ in 20 months and has only focused on MMA for a few years.

[Legendary]

He debuted in the UFC and 20 months later was the champ.

He had 1 MMA fight in 2012, 1 in 2013. In 2015 he had 3 MMA fights and 5 boxing fights, but was also kickboxing until 2017.

That is insane when you think about it. He really only has been solely focusing on MMA since the very end of 2017 early 2018. Not even 2 years of primarily focusing on MMA and he is already the UFC champ.

I know he had 6 years of previous striking experience, but it goes to show that if the right person gets into it, it wont take long to become elite.

 

[beephin]

Izzy's run is truly incredible.
The dude has been super active since joining the UFC.

He's given us an all-time war with Gastelum, and put Whittaker away rather easily to win gold.

He's also done a great job of selling himself and creating buzz around his name the short time he's been in the UFC.

Izzy is the damn truth, man.

 

[Hotora86]

Well, he's been doing combat sports for the last 12 years... it's not like he STARTED 20 months ago.

But yeah, he is an amazing talent, I'll give you that.

 

[MEAN357]

War Izzy

 

[Reign009]

I heard that he's been preparing/training for MMA for a while.

It seems like he's mapped out his career quite well and is patient enough to wait for the right moment.

Didn't wanna come to the UFC too early.

Didn't wanna train with DC even when he wasn't in the UFC because he figured that he might have to fight Rockhold someday.

Didn't wanna fight for the title too early and isn't rushing into a fight with Jones either.

 

[Hirashin]

that tells you 2 things
1. mma is still green.
2. MW is dead.

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

that tells you 2 things
1. mma is still green.
2. MW is dead.

Maybe Izzy is the chosen one...

 

[legcramp]

Izzy is the damn truth, man.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I think they did a lot of cross training at City Kickboxing anyway. He's always had Eugene Bareman as his coach hasn't he?

 

[Koimpact]

Looks like he trained very smart. Izzy picked up the skills that he would need to effectively use his striking in MMA. He has good takedown defence and great distance control in the cage

 

[in the liver]

Its because he knows memes

 

[Hirashin]

Maybe Izzy is the chosen one...

That was Anderson, he was the one, he matrixed people and set all of the records.
Izzy doesn't even have bjj and grapling. He relies solely on tdd to keep it standing.
Can't go far with that.

 

[louiscyphere]

He debuted in the UFC and 20 months later was the champ.

He had 1 MMA fight in 2012, 1 in 2013. In 2015 he had 3 MMA fights and 5 boxing fights, but was also kickboxing until 2017.

That is insane when you think about it. He really only has been solely focusing on MMA since the very end of 2017 early 2018. Not even 2 years of primarily focusing on MMA and he is already the UFC champ.

I know he had 6 years of previous striking experience, but it goes to show that if the right person gets into it, it wont take long to become elite.

It’s pretty dopE but he hasn’t been tested on the ground

 

[Frode Falch]

that tells you 2 things
1. mma is still green.
2. MW is dead.

Or...

3: Israel adesanya is a boss.

But that cant be... Right?

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

That was Anderson, he was the one, he matrixed people and set all of the records.
Izzy doesn't even have bjj and grapling. He relies solely on tdd to keep it standing.
Can't go far with that.

He's already gotten pretty far...

 

[Poids Moyen]

People who think he's cringy and weird are stupid

 

[AndrewGolota48]

He's been fighting MMA for nearly a decade and I'll go out on a limb and say his kickboxing/boxing experience helped his MMA striking.

 

[Hirashin]

He's already gotten pretty far...

thats right.

 

[Hirashin]

Or...

3: Israel adesanya is a boss.

But that cant be... Right?

I like the guy, but, he is very limited to begin with. Stikers only can only go so far.

 

[Frode Falch]

I like the guy, but, he is very limited to begin with. Stikers only can only go so far.

He is a legit MMA fighter. Not a pure striker.

You sound clueless with posts like that. And this is 2019. Not 2000...