UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley has praised Israel Adesanya for his dominant run at middleweight saying it was better than that of longest-reigning lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
After losing the title to Alex Pereira in a major upset last year, ‘The Last Stylebender’ finally conquered his rival when the pair had their rematch at UFC 287. Adesanya stunned MMA fans by not only finally getting a win over Pereira, but did so with a stunning second-round KO to recapture his belt.
The win for the Nigerian New Zealander meant he now holds victories over the entire middleweight division’s top five. A fact that Sean O’Malley was left seriously impressed with.
Discussing the champ in the latest video on his YouTube channel, O’Malley was left questioning whether or not the UFC would see another dominance like Adesanya’s. The 28-year-old did highlight, however, that he expects Bo Nickals grappling game to shake up the rankings.
“Adesanya has beat every single middleweight in the top five currently. That’s gangster…It’s another division there’s no real heavy grapplers, 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 really do it. Volk maybe? Volk and Izzy are taking over the game,” O’Malley said.
It is clearly very difficult to compare both given the weight class and fighting style difference. Adesanya is known for his powerful, striking prowess. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov is considered one of the dominant grapplers of all time.
The only difference between the two is that Nurmagomedov has a perfect record with no losses. Meanwhile, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has lost twice in MMA. However, the middleweight star has an upper hand in terms of title defenses.
Nurmagomedov has dominated some of the top contenders in his career. However, his early retirement will always be used by Adesanya’s fans to question his legacy.
Regardless of that, both Adesanya and Nurmagomedov have contributed a lot to the sport. They have also established a benchmark against which future fighters will be measured.
