The reigning UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley, has rated the reign of Israel Adesanya in the middleweight higher than that of Khabib Nurmagomedov in the lightweight.
Mixed Martial Arts fans were shocked by Adesanya’s second-round knockout victory against Brazilian fighter Alex Pereira to reclaim his middleweight title and by the fact that he ultimately triumphed over Pereira who has defeated him twice in the past.
With this victory, the Nigerian-New Zealander fighter has now beaten the top five middleweights fighters and Sean O’Malley is deeply impressed by this feat and had to compare the reign of Israel Adesanya to that of legendary Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov is regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists in history. While Adesanya is renowned for having a strong, fit physique. However, given the differences in fighting styles and weight classes, it is evidently rather challenging to compare the two.
Nurmagomedov’s unbeaten record is the major thing separating him from Adesanya. The Nigerian fighter has now suffered two MMA defeats in his career but he has the advantage when it comes to championship defenses.
In the most recent video on his YouTube channel, O’Malley talked about Adesanya and wondered whether the UFC would ever witness another dominance like that of the Nigerian-born fighter.
He said, “Adesanya has beaten every single middleweight in the top five currently. That’s gangster…It’s another division there are no real heavy grapplers, or heavy wrestlers, besides Bo Nickal but he’s a little way out from the title.
“How long’s it been since somebody took over the game that long? Khabib didn’t do it. Volk maybe? Volk and Izzy are taking over the game.”
