Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Israel “The Last Style Bender” Adesanya, has been rated as the 10th best fighter in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) franchise in the year 2020.
Nigeria’s Adesanya successfully defended his UFC titles twice in the outgoing year.
He defeated contender, Yoel Romero, in Las Vegas, in March, courtesy of a unanimous decision.
Some months later, Adesanya had to subdue the combative Brazilian, Paulo Costa, in the second round of their much anticipated fight held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in September.
Many believe that the “style bender” should have been ranked higher, with some blaming the manner of his uninspiring triumph over Romero as the reason for his 10th place rating.
Charles Oliveira; light heavyweight campaigner, Glover Teixeira; flyweight star, Brandon Moreno and women’s flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, made it into the top 10 ranking.
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The list was completed by Khamzat Chimaev, Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, Jan Blachowicz and knockout specialist cum flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
For those who do not know, Israel Adesanya aka “The Last Style Bender”, is a Nigerian of Yoruba origins.
Born on the 22nd of July, 1989, in Lagos state, the fighter is resident in Auckland, New Zealand.
Interestingly, one notable absentee from the top 10 ranking is another Nigerian fighter, Kamaru Usman.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” defended his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal in 2020.
This was, however, not enough to earn him a spot on the coveted top 10 list which was compiled by the MMA franchise for 2020.
Kamaru Usman, who was born in Auchi, Edo state, Nigeria, had only one fight all through the year under review.
Many observers believe that this contributed to his placing on the rankings.
The votes for the UFC top 10 list were cast by the Mixed Martial Arts and boxing reporters worldwide.