Walk in the garden for Adesanya
The UFC better make some room at the top of the middleweight division because Israel Adesanya has well and truly arrived.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi passed the biggest test of his career with flying colours, knocking out sixth-ranked American Derek Brunson in the first round at UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Adesanya’s grappling defence was too good for the elite-level wrestler, blocking all seven takedown attempts before he caught Brunson shooting in with a perfectly-timed right knee.
It was then only a matter of time before he extended his perfect MMA record to 15-0, dropping Brunson twice before the referee stepped in with nine seconds to go in the first round.
‘‘That was about a B-minus. You saw me fight Brad [Tavares] and he was light work but this was a walk in the park. No, this was a walk in the garden . . . Madison baby.’’
Adesanya was the first of four middleweight bouts on the main card, which is headlined by the heavyweight clash between champion Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis.
It was his fourth-straight victory since making his UFC debut in February and should see him go from ninth in the rankings into the top five.
‘The Last Stylebender’ has spoken of his desire to set up mouth-watering title showdown against New Zealand-born Australia Robert Whittaker, who is due to defend his belt against Kelvin Gastelum early next year.
He may still be one more win away from a title shot but there is no doubt he has put himself in the conversation.
‘‘I’m going to sit back and watch the rest of the fights in the middleweight tournament and then I’ll plot, slowly,’’ he added.
Adesanya, arguably the best striker in the division, has faced constant questions about his grappling ability but this performance will go some way towards silencing his critics.
Brunson (18-7) has made his career off his explosive wrestling but Adesanya never really looked in danger of being taken down.
His then took control with his stand-up, landing 13 of 23 significant strikes to just three from his opponent.
‘‘I expected him to come at me like he did with Robert Whittaker when he was all clumsy... but he came out patient and I forced him to be clumsy,’’ Adesanya said.
‘‘I started the game at level two, they’re just loading so I got in his head and I got him to start to work and shoot.
‘‘I keep saying, I don’t throw and hope. I aim and fire down the barrel.’’