Israel Adesanya's Real Name: Israel Adesanya

Quick answer: Israel Adesanya's documented public name is Israel Adesanya. ESPN lists that form, a July 22, 1989, birth date, and Nigeria as his country. GLORY Kickboxing and UFC independently say he was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and later based in New Zealand. The ESPN and GLORY pages consulted here do not use a longer given name (ESPN; GLORY Kickboxing; UFC).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Israel Adesanya, and as "The Last Stylebender," a nickname used by ESPN, GLORY, and UFC. ESPN dates his birth to 7/22/1989 and lists his country as Nigeria. GLORY says he was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to New Zealand with his family in 2001. A UFC career-highlights article says he was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and fights out of Auckland, New Zealand. GLORY says that after taking up Muay Thai in Whanganui, he moved to Auckland and began a professional kickboxing career at City Kickboxing, going undefeated over 32 fights before moving to China. The UFC athlete page also lists City Kickboxing as his training camp. None of these pages uses a longer legal name, so this biography titles the public name.

Career highlights

The UFC athlete page lists him as an active middleweight, record 24-6-0, with 16 wins by knockout, and an Octagon debut of February 11, 2018. A UFC news article by Maddyn Johnstone-Thomas independently dates that debut to a win over Rob Wilkinson at UFC 221 in Perth, says he won the interim middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, and became undisputed champion at UFC 243 on October 6, 2019, by knocking out Robert Whittaker in the second round. The same article says he held the crown for four years, had five successful title defenses before a bout with Alex Pereira at UFC 281, and was middleweight champion from 2019 to 2022. Standout fights listed there include a 2019 unanimous decision over Anderson Silva at UFC 234. The athlete page records later results including a loss to Dricus Du Plessis. On March 28, 2026, in Seattle, he lost to Joe Pyfer by second-round TKO, according to UFC's event results (UFC). ESPN lists the 24-6-0 record and 16 knockout wins.

Name notes for searchers

Israel Adesanya is the name used by ESPN, GLORY, and UFC. Searchers looking for The Last Stylebender or the 2019–22 UFC middleweight champion are usually aiming at the same person.