Slacky’s Film Room #7: It’s All About Izzy

With Israel Adesanya versus Paulo Costa just around the corner, today we look at Izzy’s pre-UFC career. Adesanya was a world class kickboxer in his own right, but used a style which was largely at odds with the established kickboxing meta. Where most focused on covering up with the ear-muffs, Adesanya concentrated more on framing. Instead of excelling from one stance he went out of his way to switch hit constantly. And unlike the vast majority of kickboxers, Adesanya invested a great deal of time into establishing the jab and feinting it to draw reactions.

Perhaps it was due to Adesanya chasing two rabbits at the same time—competing in MMA and kickboxing almost alternately throughout 2014-2017—but his odd kickboxing game slotted in perfectly to mixed martial arts and carried him to the UFC title in short order.