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Robert Whittaker

Robert John Whittaker (born 20 December 1990) is a New Zealand-born Australian professional mixed martial artist. He is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Whittaker was a contestant on the first series of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and won the welterweight tournament. Whittaker became interim middleweight champion after winning the title at UFC 213; he was promoted to undisputed champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the UFC Middleweight Championship in 2017. As of 19 January 2021, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings and, as of January 24, 2021, he is #14 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Background

Whittaker was born at Middlemore Hospital in Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand. His father is an Australian of European descent and his mother is of Māori and Samoan descent. Whittaker’s father enrolled Robert, aged seven, and his brother in a Goju-ryu Karate school, to encourage them in self-discipline and self-defence. After training in the discipline for a little over eight years, and earning his black belt, his father offered him the chance to change to another sport or drop Karate entirely. While his brother decided to drop out, Robert chose to switch to Hapkido gym run by Henry Perez, following his move to Menai. Not long afterwards, Perez transformed his gym into an MMA gym. Having no other choice, Whittaker began training in MMA and was immediately hooked, choosing MMA as his preferred sport over Rugby League.

Whittaker prefers not to engage in trash-talk outside of the octagon. As he puts it:

I’m the type of fighter that goes into every fight with no ill will towards my opponent. I’m an athlete first and foremost and I love the sport.

MMA Career

Early career

In 2008 Whittaker began competing in MMA as a professional. He signed with Australia’s Xtreme Fighting Championships and made his debut 14 March 2009 against fellow pro debutant Chris Tallowin. Whittaker won the fight via TKO in the first round. Whittaker continued his career with Cage Fighting Championships, going 6-0 inside the promotion from 2009 to 2011, with a notable win over fellow TUF: Smashes cast member, Ben Alloway.

On 30 October 2011 Whittaker lost his first fight when he travelled to Cotai, Macau for Legend Fighting Championships 6: he fought Hoon Kim and lost via submission in the first round. Whittaker bounced back from the loss and won two consecutive bouts before suffering his second loss to Jesse Juarez, which brought his overall record to 9–2.

UFC Career

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2012, Whittaker’s coach, Henry Perez, put him forward for the first series of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, which pitted a team of eight Australians against a team of eight men from the United Kingdom, and he was selected as one of the cast members.

In his first fight on the show, Whittaker fought Luke Newman. Whittaker landed a punch flush on the chin of Newman after 19 seconds, knocking him unconscious for several minutes. The win moved him onto the semifinal round. The knockout also earned Whittaker an additional $25,000 for “Knockout of the Season”.

In the semifinal, Whittaker was matched against replacement fighter and fellow Team Australia teammate, Xavier Lucas. Whittaker won via knockout at 1:17 in the first round. The win moved Whittaker into the final round of the competition, which would take place live on UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson.

Early UFC fights

Whittaker made his UFC debut on 15 December 2012 at UFC on FX 6, which was also known as “The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes Finale”. He would fight Brad Scott to determine the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes. Whittaker won the fight via unanimous decision to become the first winner of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes alongside Norman Parke, who was the lightweight winner.

Whittaker faced Colton Smith on 25 May 2013 at UFC 160. He won the fight by TKO in the third round.

Whittaker faced Court McGee on 28 August 2013 at UFC Fight Night 27. He lost the fight via split decision.

Whittaker was expected to face Brian Melancon on 7 December 2013 at UFC Fight Night 33. However, Melancon pulled out of the bout citing an injury and subsequently retired. As a result, Whittaker was removed from the card.

Whittaker faced Stephen Thompson on 22 February 2014 at UFC 170. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. In the three years following his loss to Thompson, Whittaker won 6 fights in a row prior to earning his fight against Yoel Romero. He said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald:

I had to really have a sit back and just look at what I was doing with myself outside the octagon and inside. I had made changes, I had lost way of who I was as a fighter and as a family man and as a man myself and just sitting back and reflecting on that I had to make my relationship with my family right and then I had to make my relationship with my coaches and everything right.

Whittaker faced Mike Rhodes on 28 June 2014 at UFC Fight Night 43. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Move to middleweight

Whittaker faced Clint Hester in a middleweight bout on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 55. He won the back-and-forth fight via TKO in the second round. The win also earned Whittaker his first Fight of the Night bonus award.

Whittaker faced Brad Tavares on 10 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 65. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. The win also earned Whittaker his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

Whittaker was expected to face Michael Bisping on 15 November 2015 at UFC 193. However, Bisping pulled out of the fight on 30 September, citing an elbow injury, and was replaced by Uriah Hall. Whittaker defeated Hall by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).

Whittaker next faced Rafael Natal on 23 April 2016 at UFC 197. Whittaker won the back and forth fight via unanimous decision.

Whittaker faced Derek Brunson on 27 November 2016 at UFC Fight Night 101. He won the back and forth fight via first-round TKO. The win also earned him the Performance of the Night and the Fight of the Night bonus awards.

Whittaker faced Ronaldo Souza on 15 April 2017 at UFC on Fox 24. He won by second-round TKO and in the process became the first person to finish Souza since 2008. The win also earned Whittaker his third Performance of the Night bonus award.

UFC Middleweight Champion

Whittaker fought for the interim middleweight title against Yoel Romero on 8 July 2017 at UFC 213, after Michael Bisping announced a nagging knee injury which would go on to keep him on the sidelines for several months. Whittaker won by unanimous decision, and became the first Australian and first New Zealand born fighter to hold a UFC title. This win earned him the Fight of the Night bonus award. He missed the remainder of 2017, as he was recovering from a medial knee injury to his left leg.

On 7 December 2017, then middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre vacated the title after being diagnosed with colitis. As a result, Whittaker was promoted to undisputed champion. He was slated for his first title defence at UFC 221 against former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold on 10 February 2018 at Perth Arena in Australia. On 13 January 2018, it was reported that Whittaker had pulled out of the event due to an undisclosed injury and would be replaced by Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight championship. The winner of this bout would then face Whittaker in a unification bout. On 20 January 2018, Dana White confirmed that Whittaker was in a serious condition after he was not properly treated from a staph infection in his stomach.

A rematch with Romero took place on 9 June 2018 at UFC 225. At the weigh-ins, Romero missed weight, coming in at 186 lbs, 1 pound over the middleweight limit for a title fight. Romero was given additional time to make weight, but he weighed in at 185.2 lbs, 0.2 lbs over the title fight limit. Romero was fined 20% of his fight purse and the fight was contested as a non-title catchweight bout. He won the fight by a close split decision. Their fight was awarded with ‘Fight of The Night’ honours. As Romero had failed to make weight, Whittaker received a $100,000 bonus, which would normally have been shared by both fighters.

In July 2018, the UFC announced that Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum had been selected as coaches for Ultimate Fighter 28. On 2 November 2018, it was announced that Whittaker’s next middleweight title defence would be against Kelvin Gastelum, in February at UFC 234. However, Whittaker pulled out of the event a few hours beforehand after he was forced to undergo emergency dual surgery immediately, due to an abdominal hernia of the intestine and a twisted and collapsed bowel.

Whittaker faced Israel Adesanya on 6 October 2019 at UFC 243. He lost the bout and the championship via second-round knockout.

Post UFC Middleweight Championship

Whittaker was scheduled to face Jared Cannonier on 7 March 2020 at UFC 248. However, on 15 January 2020, it was announced Whittaker pulled out of the bout for undisclosed reasons. In late April 2020, Whittaker revealed in an interview that he withdrew from the bout and training altogether due to burnout.

Whittaker faced Darren Till on 26 July 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Whittaker faced Jared Cannonier on 24 October 2020 at UFC 254. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Whittaker was scheduled to face Paulo Costa on 17 April 2021 at UFC on ESPN 22. However, on March 16 Costa withdrew from the fight due to illness, and he was replaced by Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.

A rematch between Whittaker and Adesanya is scheduled to take February 12, 2022 at UFC 271 for the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Freestyle wrestling career

Whittaker began competing in amateur freestyle wrestling tournaments in 2015, when he unexpectedly turned up to compete in the Australia Cup in Canberra. He won each of his three bouts. It was also at the 2015 Australia Cup that Whittaker flagged the possibility of potentially representing Australia in Olympic or Commonwealth wrestling competitions] He returned to the wrestling mat in May 2017 and claimed the Australian National Wrestling Championships gold medal in the 97 kg (213 lbs) division. After winning the national championship, Whittaker entered Australia’s 2018 Commonwealth Games 97 kg qualifying tournament in November 2017. He would once again claim first place in his division and in doing so qualified to represent Australia in the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, the city in which he made his UFC debut. Following his qualification, Whittaker made it clear he would only compete in the Commonwealth Games if the event did not interfere with his UFC commitments. It was confirmed in March 2018 that Whittaker would be one of eight Australians to compete in the Commonwealth Games wrestling competition in April 2018. However, Whittaker was forced to withdraw from the Games less than three weeks from the event in order not to risk being stripped of his UFC championship title, as the UFC was concerned that an injury incurred during the Commonwealth Games would render him unable to compete for the middleweight championship at UFC 225 against Yoel Romero on 9 June 2018.

Championships and accomplishments

General

GQ Australia
- 2018 GQ Australia Sportsman of the year award

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Middleweight Championship (one time)
- Interim UFC Middleweight Championship (one time, first)
- First Australian UFC champion
- The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes Welterweight Tournament Winner
- The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes Knockout of the Season
- Fight of the Night (five times) vs. Clint Hester, Derek Brunson, Yoel Romero (2), and Kelvin Gastelum
- Performance of the Night (three times) vs. Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, and Ronaldo Souza
Superfight Australia
- Superfight Australia Welterweight Championship (one time)
MMA Mania.com
- UFC/MMA ‘Fighter of the Year’ 2017 – Top 5 List #2
Sherdog
- 2017 Fighter of the Year
MMA DNA.nl
- 2017 Fighter of the Year
- 2018 Fight of the Year.
BJPENN.COM
- Scrap of the Month for June 2018
World MMA Awards
- 2017 International Fighter of the Year

Freestyle wrestling

Australia Cup
- Winner – 97 kg (2015)
Australian National Wrestling Championships
- Gold medal – 97 kg (2017)
Commonwealth Games
- Qualified – 97 kg (2018)

Personal life

Whittaker and his wife Sofia have three sons, John, Jack and Jace, and a daughter, Lilliana. Whittaker also has legal guardianship of his younger half sister and brothers Kerehi and Henry Matafeo.

Representing both Australia and New Zealand

Whittaker once stated in an interview, “Pretty much all my mother’s side is Kiwi and we have a strong Maori heritage. He said further, “I feel really privileged to have that Maori blood and link to my past. I got my tattoo out of respect to that.” Whittaker was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia when he was one month old. As stated in an interview, “My mother wanted to have me back home, so she came back. After I was born we came back to Australia. It’s half of who I am, is Maori, and my mum’s roots go back to Samoa.” When asked about his nationality in an interview with the Australian TV programme The Project, he declared that he had an Australian passport but added that he felt as if he represented both countries as an MMA fighter.

I’m blessed to be in this position – every time I walk into the octagon I feel like I’m representing Australia and New Zealand. It’s the highest honour and the highest privilege.

In an interview with GQ Australia, he stated:

I am immensely proud to be an Australian and to be a pioneer in the sport to, you know, lead, lead today’s MMA scene against all these other countries, you know, it really, it really does light me up, to see that the Australian flag when I walk out, you know, to hear them called out that I’m Australian and I am very patriotic. I am really proud of my country and proud of where I am from.

Youth clinics for community service

Whittaker has held clinics for youths in his spare time at his home gym, Gracie jiu-jitsu at Smeaton Grange, and also visited several remote Australian Indigenous youth communities at inland New South Wales. Through this community service, he hopes to inspire the younger generation to take up combat sports by being a good role model to them. Whittaker has said “I want to be a good role model for young up-and-coming athletes, and I want to be a role model to men in general. If I could affect a kid, then this whole journey is amazing. To help them to have some sort of a career path in the sport and fitness industry, and if I could do that for one kid even that would make my day.”

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

28 matches	23 wins	5 losses
By knockout	9	2
By submission	5	1
By decision	9	2

Source: wikipedia

Israel Adesanya

Posted by Anthony John Leave a Comment

Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya (born July 22, 1989) is a Nigerian-born New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines. As a mixed martial artist, he is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of October 25, 2021 he is #3 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Adesanya is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in mixed martial arts.

Israel Adesanya: Early Life

Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria, the eldest of five children. His father, Oluwafemi, is an accountant and his mother, Taiwo, is a nurse. Adesanya attended Chrisland School, Opebi, and enrolled in its Taekwondo after-school club until he was removed by his mother due to an injury. In 1999, he relocated to Ghana with his family for 10 months, but due to his parents wanting their children to receive a well-recognised higher education, he settled in Rotorua, New Zealand at age 10 and attended Rotorua Boys’ High School. Adesanya was not interested in sport during high school; instead he was interested in Japanese anime such as Death Note and Naruto. Adesanya was bullied during his high school years and attributes the mistreatment he experienced to his decision to pursue martial arts later in life.

Following high school graduation, Adesanya enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Computer Design at the Universal College of Learning in Whanganui. At the age of 18, he started training in kickboxing, after being inspired by the Muay Thai film Ong-Bak. Two years later Adesanya made the decision to cease his studies in pursuit of a career in kickboxing and went on to amass an amateur record of 32–0 before turning professional and fighting in China. At the age of 21, Adesanya moved to Auckland, New Zealand, and began training in mixed martial arts under Eugene Bareman at City Kickboxing, with future UFC fighters such as Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France and Alexander Volkanovski. He trains in wrestling under the Romanian New Zealander Andrei Păuleț.

Adesanya is multilingual. He is fluent in Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin and English.

Professional kickboxing career

Early beginnings

In May 2010, Adesanya won the first fight of his seven-fight winning streak, defeating Tim Atonio by unanimous decision. He won his next six fights, fighting almost exclusively with Wu Lin Feng in China. His winning streak earned him a place in the 2014 Kunlun Fight 80 kg tournament, held during Kunlun Fight 2. He lost the semifinal bout against Simon Marcus by an extra round split decision. Adesanya afterwards made his Glory debut at Glory 15, when he faced Filip Verlinden. Verlinden won the fight by unanimous decision. The two of them fought a rematch at Glory of Heroes 3, three months after their first fight, with Adesanya winning a unanimous decision.

Adesanya participated in the King in the Ring Cruiserweights II tournament of the regional circuit in New Zealand. In the quarterfinal, he beat Slava Alexeichik by unanimous decision, in the semifinal he beat Pati Afoa by knockout and won the tournament with a knockout of Jamie Eades. Six months later, he took part in the 2015 Cruiserweights III tournament. He scored technical knockouts of Kim Loudon and Mark Timms in the quarterfinal and semifinal bouts respectively, before winning the tournament for the second time with a first-round knockout of Pati Afoa.

Moving up in weight, Adesanya participated in the 2015 The Heavyweights III, as well. He defeated Nase Foai by TKO in the quarterfinal and Dan Roberts by KO in the semifinal, before facing Jamie Eades in the finals. The two had previously met in the final of the 2014 Cruiserweight tournament. Adesanya won the tournament final by unanimous decision.

Glory Middleweight Championship

Adesanya won five of his next six fights, including victories over Yousri Belgaroui and Bogdan Stoica. His loss came at the hands of future GLORY Middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who won by unanimous decision.

Adesanya participated in the 2016 Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament. He defeated Robert Thomas by unanimous decision in the semifinals, and won the tournament with a split decision victory over Yousri Belgaroui. He fought Jason Wilnis for the Glory Middleweight championship at Glory 37: Los Angeles. Wilnis won the fight by unanimous decision, although the result was considered controversial.

His last kickboxing fight, before transitioning to mixed martial arts, was a rematch with Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7. Pereira won the fight by knockout, after dropping Adesanya with a short left hook in the third round.

Professional mixed martial arts career

Early career

Adesanya made his professional debut in 2012, with a TKO win against James Griffiths. He scored another TKO win against John Vake, before taking a two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts. He returned to MMA in August 2015, when he won the fight against Song Kenan by TKO. He went on to amass an 8–0 record, fighting mostly in Oceanian and Chinese circuits. During this run, he won the AFC Middleweight Championship at Australia Fighting Championship 20 with a first-round TKO over Melvin Guillard, as well as the Hex Fight Series Middleweight championship with a first-round KO of Stuart Dare.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In December 2017, it was announced that Adesanya had signed a contract with the UFC. He made his debut against Rob Wilkinson on 11 February 2018, at UFC 221. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night bonus.

Adesanya’s next fight took place on 14 April 2018, against Marvin Vettori at UFC on Fox 29. He won the match by split decision.

Adesanya then faced Brad Tavares on 6 July 2018, at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale. Adesanya won the one-sided fight via unanimous decision. This win earned him his second Performance of the Night award.

Adesanya faced Derek Brunson on 3 November 2018, at UFC 230. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award for a third time.

While initially expected to serve as the co-main event, Adesanya faced former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on 10 February 2019, in the main event of UFC 234. He won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned both competitors the Fight of the Night award.

UFC Middleweight Championship

Adesanya faced Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship on 13 April 2019, in the co-main event of UFC 236. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award. The fight was widely regarded as the best fight of the year, earning the nomination from most of the MMA news outlets.

Adesanya then faced Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout on 6 October 2019, headlining UFC 243 for UFC Middleweight Championship. After a knockdown in last second of the first round, Adesanya won the fight via knockout in the second round. This win earned him his fourth Performance of the Night award.

Adesanya next faced three-time UFC title challenger Yoel Romero on March 7, 2020 UFC 248. He won the fight via unanimous decision, defending his title for the first time. Many fans and pundits felt disappointed due to the low activity by both fighters which resulted in a largely uneventful fight in which neither fighter was able to deliver any significant offense.

In his next title defense, Adesanya faced fellow undefeated fighter Paulo Costa on 27 September 2020 at UFC 253. This marked the first time two male unbeaten mixed martial artists met in a title fight since 2009. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round. This win earned him his fifth Performance of the Night award. After the bout, Adesanya’s visible right-breast gynecomastia drummed up controversy due to possible PEDs use, though Adesanya claimed it was due to his usage of marijuana. Adesanya also caused additional controversy by simulating anal sex on the prone Costa at the end of the fight.

Adesanya moved up a weight class and faced Jan Błachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on 6 March 2021, headlining UFC 259. At the weight-ins, Adesanya weighted 200 pounds, five pounds away from the light heavyweight limit. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, marking the first time he has been defeated in mixed martial arts.

Adesanya rematched Marvin Vettori for the UFC Middleweight Championship on June 12, 2021, headlining UFC 263. Adesanya controlled a majority of the fight winning via unanimous decision.

A rematch between Adesanya and Robert Whittaker is scheduled to take place February 12, 2022 at UFC 271 for the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Professional boxing career

Prizefighting tournaments

Adesanya began his professional boxing career in November 2014 against two-time Australian champion Daniel Ammann. He was granted one of two wildcards to enter the inaugural cruiserweight Super 8 Boxing Tournament. The event was headlined by Shane Cameron and Kali Meehan at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. He suffered a controversial loss via unanimous decision after he looked to have outpointed Ammann in the quarter-finals.

Adesanya re-entered the Super 8 tournament in May 2015, held at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch. It was the second cruiserweight series with the winner receiving $25,000 NZD and a new car. He won his first professional fight against fellow New Zealander Asher Derbyshire in the first seed. Adesanya knocked his opponent out in the second round. In the second fight of the tournament, Adesanya won a majority decision against Lance Bryant. In the tournament final, he defeated Brian Minto by split decision.

Adesanya fought in the 2015 Super 8 Cruiserweight tournament. He won his semifinal match against Zane Hopman by unanimous decision, and defended the cruiserweight crown with a unanimous decision win against Lance Bryant in the final.

Controversies

In February 2020, Adesanya came under fire for comments made at the UFC 248 pre-fight press conference, where he said he would make opponent Yoel Romero “crumble like the Twin Towers”, referencing the September 11 attacks. The following day, Adesanya made an apology on his Instagram page, saying “I was simply rambling and my brain worked faster than my mouth in a moment to choose the wrong euphemism. You speak on the mic enough times and you’re bound to miss the mark with some bars. I did on this one and for that I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful in future with my words.”

On March 25, 2021, New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Sport, Grant Robertson, spoke out against Adesanya’s “flippant comments” on his Instagram “Bro, I will fuckin’ rape you” aimed at fellow UFC middleweight fighter, Kevin Holland. Robertson commented “I’m sure Israel understands that, I believe he has deleted the tweet in question. It will be up to the UFC as to what they do. But I would certainly be making clear to him [Adesanya], and to anybody actually, that we have to take rape seriously. It’s not an issue that anyone should be making jokes or flippant comments about at all.”

Personal life

Before taking up fighting, Adesanya regularly competed in dance competitions across New Zealand. He highlighted his passion for dance in a choreographed walkout at UFC 243.

Adesanya is a fan of anime and has stated he would like to start an anime production company after retiring from fighting. His nickname “The Last Stylebender” is a reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an anime-influenced cartoon series. Adesanya has the image of one of the show’s main characters, Toph Beifong, tattooed on his forearm.

In September 2020, he became the first mixed martial arts athlete to sign a sponsorship deal with Puma. Adesanya was also signed as an ambassador for Stake.com in January 2021.

Views and positions

Adesanya has endorsed the 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum.

In June 2021, Adesanya advocated tougher penalties against coward punching following the death of his training partner Fau Vake, who died after being punched in the head the previous month.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Middleweight Championship (One time, current)
  - Three successful title defenses
- Interim UFC Middleweight Championship (One time)
- Performance of the Night (Five times) vs. Rob Wilkinson, Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa
- Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum
- Most Knockdowns in a UFC Title Fight (4)
Australian Fighting Championship
- AFC Middleweight Champion (one time)
Hex Fighting Series Middleweight
- Hex Fighting Series Middleweight Champion (one time)
MMAJunkie.com
- 2018 Newcomer of the Year
- 2019 April Fight of the Month vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- 2019 Fight of the Year vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- 2019 Male Fighter of the Year
MMA Fighting
- 2018 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
- 2019 Fight of the Year vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- 2019 Fighter of the Year
CombatPress.com
- 2018 Breakout Fighter of the Year
- 2019 Male Fighter of the Year
- 2019 Fight of the Year vs. Kelvin Gastelum
CagesidePress.com
- 2019 Fighter of the Year
- 2019 Fight of the Year vs. Kelvin Gastelum
MMADNA.nl
- 2018 Rising Star of the Year.
The Body Lock
- 2019 Fighter of the Year
World MMA Awards
- 2018 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
- 2019 – July 2020 Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year
- 2019 – July 2020 International Fighter of the Year
- 2021 International Fighter of the Year
Voting period for 2019 awards ran from January 2019 to July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, the voting period for 2021 awards ran from July 2020 to July 2021.
MMAMania.com
- 2019 Fighter of the Year
- 2019 Fight of the Year vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Halberg Awards
- 2019 New Zealand Sportsman of the Year
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year (2019, 2020)
- MMA Match of the Year (vs. Kelvin Gastelum, 2019)

Pay-per-view bouts

No.	Event	Fight	Date	Venue	City	PPV buys
1.	UFC 234	Adesanya vs. Silva	10 February 2019	Rod Laver Arena	Melbourne, Australia	175,000
2.	UFC 253	Adesanya vs. Costa	27 September 2020	Flash Forum	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	700,000
3.	UFC 259	Błachowicz vs. Adesanya	6 March 2021	UFC Apex	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S	800,000
4.	UFC 263	Adesanya vs. Vettori 2	12 June 2021	Gila River Arena	Glendale, Arizona, U.S	600,000
Total Sales						2,275,000

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

22 matches	21 wins	1 loss
By knockout	15	0
By decision	6	1

Professional boxing record

6 fights	5 wins	1 loss
By knockout	1	0
By decision	4	1

All data source: wikipedia

Ciryl Gane

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Ciryl Gane (Ciryl Jacky Gane) (born April 12, 1990) is a French mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is the current Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. A professional fighter since 2014, he has also formerly competed for TKO Major League MMA where he was the Heavyweight Champion. As of November 2, 2021, he is #15 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Ciryl Gane: Early Life

Gane was born in La Roche-sur-Yon, and is of Guadeloupean descent through his father. His father Romain Gane was a bus driver, and footballer in the Division d’Honneur. As a youth, Gane played football and basketball. Despite his sporting talent, Gane decided to work in sales at a furniture store and he joined a work-study program in Paris. During this time, a former classmate introduced Gane to Muay Thai.

Muay Thai career

Gane made his professional debut on June 4, 2016, in a AFMT Muay thai heavyweight title fight against Jérémy Jeanne. He won the fight by a second-round knockout.

After a decision win against Samih Bachar, Gane was scheduled to fight the K-1 veteran Brice Guidon at La Nuit Des Titans. He beat Guidon by a third-round knockout.

Gane was scheduled to defend his AFMT title against Jonathan Gengoul at Muay Thai Spirit 5. He won the fight by a first-round knockout.

At Warriors Night, Gane beat Bangaly Keita by a third-round knockout. He was then scheduled to fight the multiple-time WBC Muaythai champion Yassine Boughanem at Duel 2. Gane won the fight by decision.

Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) career

Early career

Coached by Fernand Lopez, Ciryl Gane made his professional MMA debut in 2018. He was first contracted to the Canadian MMA promotion TKO, where his first fight was for the vacant TKO heavyweight championship, against Bobby Sullivan. He won the title fight in the first round through a front choke.

He defended the heavyweight championship a month later against Adam Dyczka, winning the fight in the second round via a TKO. His third fight in TKO, and his second title defense, was against Roggers Souza, which he won in the first round by a TKO.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Gane made his promotional debut on August 10, 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2 against Raphael Pessoa. Gane won the fight by an arm triangle choke at the end of the first round.

Gane faced Don’Tale Mayes on October 26, 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Askren. Gane won the fight by a heel hook in the third round, earning him a Performance of the Night bonus.

Gane faced Tanner Boser on December 21, 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Gane was scheduled to face Shamil Abdurakhimov on April 18, 2020 at UFC 249. However, on March 5, 2020 it was announced that Gane was forced to pull out from the event after suffering pneumothorax during training. The bout was eventually rescheduled for July 11, 2020 at UFC 251. Subsequently, the pairing was cancelled a second time and scrapped from this event in mid-June as Abdurikhimov was removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons. In turn, Gane was expected to face Sergei Pavlovich on August 8, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 174. Pavlovich however had to pull out because of an injury. Therefore the original fight against Shamil Abdurakhimov was scheduled again on September 26, 2020 at UFC 253: however, the bout was rescheduled again to UFC Fight Night 180 on October 18, 2020. The bout fell through once again as Abdurakhimov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons on September 28, 2020 and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Ante Delija. On October 14, 2020, it was announced that the bout was cancelled due to Delija’s contractual problems with his previous deal with the PFL.

Gane faced Junior dos Santos on December 12, 2020 at UFC 256. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.

Gane faced Jairzinho Rozenstruik on February 27, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 186. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Gane faced Alexander Volkov on June 26, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 190. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Gane faced Derrick Lewis on August 7, 2021 at UFC 265 for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. He won the one-sided fight via technical knockout in round three. This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Gane is scheduled to face Francis Ngannou for the UFC Heavyweight Championship on January 22, 2022 at UFC 270.

Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) Record

10 matches	10 wins	0 losses
By knockout	4	0
By submission	3	0
By decision	3	0

Source: wikipedia

Francis Ngannou

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Francis Ngannou (Francis Zavier Ngannou) (born 5 September 1986) is a French-Cameroonian mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is known for being the hardest recorded puncher in the world. As of November 2, 2021, he is #4 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Francis Ngannou Life and Education

Ngannou was born and raised in the village of Batié, Cameroon. He lived in poverty and had little formal education growing up. Ngannou’s parents divorced when he was six years old, and he was sent to live with his aunt. At 10 years old, Ngannou started working in a sand quarry in Batié because of a lack of funds. As a youngster, he was approached by several gangs in his village to join them. However, Ngannou refused and instead decided to use his father’s negative reputation as a street fighter as motivation to do something positive and pursue boxing.

At the age of 22, Ngannou began training in boxing, despite the initial reluctance of his family. After training for a year, Ngannou stopped training due to an illness. He did various odd jobs to make ends meet, until at the age of 26, he decided to head to Paris, France, to pursue professional boxing. However upon reaching Europe, he was jailed for two months in Spain for illegally crossing the border. After Ngannou reached Paris, he had no money, no friends, and no place to live. After living homeless on the streets of Paris, he was introduced by a friend to Fernand Lopez and the MMA factory. Being a fan of Mike Tyson, Ngannou was originally interested in learning how to box but Lopez saw his potential in MMA and convinced him to try MMA instead. Lopez gave Ngannou some MMA gear and allowed him to train and sleep at the gym for no cost thus starting Ngannou’s MMA career.

Reflecting on his journey across continents and his decision to become an MMA fighter, Ngannou said:

When I started, I had nothing. Nothing. I needed everything. But when you start (to earn money), you starting collecting things: I want this, I want this, I want that. The purpose is not collecting things, though. The purpose is to do something great. Finish the dream you started.

I want to help my family, first, of course, but then I want to give opportunity to children in my country like me who have a dream to become a doctor or something. If I reach my dream, it will give me the opportunity to help those in my country who have their own dreams and nothing else to fulfill them.

I want to give some opportunity for children like me who dream of this sport and don’t have an opportunity like me. The last time I was in Cameroon, I brought a lot of materials for boxing and MMA to open a gym. Now I just bought a big space to start the gym, as well.

A lot of children now in Cameroon, because of me, they have a dream. They say, ‘I will be a champion in MMA. I will do boxing like Francis,’ because they saw me when I was young. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have any opportunity. And today, they see me, and they are dreaming. They are thinking that something is possible. Even when they are so poor, something is possible in life. It’s not easy. It’s so hard, but it’s possible.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Career

Early Career

Ngannou started his MMA career in November 2013 and fought mostly in the French promotion 100% Fight, as well as other regional promotions in Europe. He compiled a record of 5–1 before signing with the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Ngannou made his UFC debut against fellow newcomer Luis Henrique on December 19, 2015, at UFC on Fox 17. He won the fight via knockout in the second round.

Ngannou next faced UFC newcomer Curtis Blaydes on April 10, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 86. He won the fight via TKO, due to doctor stoppage at the end of the second round.

In his next bout, Ngannou faced another newcomer in Bojan Mihajlović on July 23, 2016, at UFC on Fox 20. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Ngannou then faced Anthony Hamilton on December 9, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 102. He won the fight by submission in the first round, and earned his first UFC Performance of the Night bonus.

Ngannou faced Andrei Arlovski on January 28, 2017, at UFC on Fox 23. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Ngannou his second Performance of the Night bonus.

Ngannou was expected to face Junior dos Santos on September 9, 2017, at UFC 215. However, on 18 August, Dos Santos was pulled from the match after being notified of a potential USADA violation. In turn, Ngannou was removed from the card after promotion officials deemed that a suitable opponent could not be arranged.

In the highest profile fight of his career, Ngannou faced veteran Alistair Overeem on December 2, 2017, at UFC 218. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. This knockout has been labeled as one of the greatest and most brutal knockouts of all time.

Ngannou faced Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight Championship on January 20, 2018, at UFC 220. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Ngannou faced Derrick Lewis on July 7, 2018, at UFC 226. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. The fight was heavily criticized by the media and the fans for the lack of offence from both competitors and was labeled as a “snoozefest”.

Ngannou faced Curtis Blaydes in a rematch on November 24, 2018, in the main event at UFC Fight Night 141 He won the fight via TKO early into the first round. The win also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.

Ngannou headlined the UFC’s inaugural event on ESPN, UFC on ESPN 1 against Cain Velasquez on February 17, 2019. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.

Ngannou faced Junior dos Santos on June 29, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 3. He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round. This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Ngannou was scheduled to face Jairzinho Rozenstruik on March 28, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed. The pair was rescheduled to meet at 18 April 2020 at UFC 249. However, on 9 April, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the bout eventually took place on 9 May 2020. Ngannou won via knockout just 20 seconds into the first round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

UFC Heavyweight Championship Career

Miocic vs. Ngannou II

A rematch for the UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between Miocic and Ngannou took place on March 27, 2021, at UFC 260. Ngannou won the fight via knockout in the second round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Ngannou vs. Gane

Ngannou is scheduled to face interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Ciryl Gane for the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship on January 22, 2022, at UFC 270 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Personal Life

Ngannou is multilingual. He speaks several languages including Ngemba, French, and English. He learned English after joining the UFC.

Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) Record

19 matches	16 wins	3 losses
By knockout	12	0
By submission	4	0
By decision	0	3

Source: wikipedia

Colby Covington

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Colby Covington (Colby Ray Covington) (born February 22, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion. As of June of 2021, he is #1 in the UFC welterweight rankings.

Colby Covington: Background

Covington was born in Clovis, California on February 22, 1988. His parents are Noelle and Brad Covington, and he has two sisters named Candace and Callie. The family moved from California to Oregon when he was eight years old. His father was a wrestler during his time at the Oregon Institute of Technology and Southern Oregon University.

Wrestling career

As a wrestler at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Covington lettered all four years and won the 171 lb state championship as a senior. He committed to Arizona State University but his test scores were not up to par, so he went to Iowa Central Community College, where he won the 165 lb national junior college wrestling title as a true freshman with a 34–0 record. His roommate at the time was future UFC champion Jon Jones.

Following his championship season at Iowa Central, Covington transferred to the wrestling program at the University of Iowa. On August 10, 2007, he was arrested for eluding police and driving under the influence, having registered a BAC of 0.255, over three times the legal limit of 0.08. He later said, “That was a real all-time low in my life, something I really wish I could take back.” Due to his arrest, Covington was suspended from the Hawkeyes for a year and saw limited time the next season.He looked for a fresh start, and former Hawkeyes coach Jim Zalesky convinced Covington to transfer to Oregon State University.

During his time at OSU, Covington qualified for the NCAA tournament as a junior and as a senior, placing fifth as a senior and earning All-American honors. He also was a two-time Pac-10 Conference champion at 174-pounds. He was cited for fourth-degree assault stemming from an incident on May 23, 2010, in which he was accused of punching two men after a verbal altercation. The Benton County District Attorney’s Office did not pursue charges against Covington over the incident.

Covington graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2011.

MMA career

Early career

He compiled a record of 5–0 before signing with the UFC in the summer of 2014.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (2014–present)

Covington made his promotional debut against Anying Wang on August 23, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 48. He won the fight by TKO via punches in the closing seconds of the first round.

Covington fought Wagner Silva on November 8, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 56. He won the fight via submission in the third round.

Covington next faced Mike Pyle on May 23, 2015 at UFC 187, replacing an injured Sean Spencer. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Covington faced Warlley Alves on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

Covington was expected to compete against Alex Garcia on June 18, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 89. However, Garcia was pulled from the fight on June 10 for undisclosed reasons and replaced by promotional newcomer Jonathan Meunier. Covington won the fight via submission in the third round.

Covington next faced promotional newcomer Max Griffin on August 20, 2016 at UFC 202. He won the fight via TKO in the third round.

Covington’s next bout was against Bryan Barberena on December 17, 2016 at UFC on Fox 22. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Covington faced Dong Hyun Kim on June 17, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 111. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

As the final fight of his prevailing contract, Covington fought Demian Maia on October 28, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 119. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Covington fought Rafael dos Anjos on June 9, 2018 at UFC 225 for the Interim UFC Welterweight Championship. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Covington was briefly linked to a title unification bout with the then champion Tyron Woodley on September 8, 2018, at UFC 228. However, Covington was unable to compete on that date due to recent nasal surgery. As a result, UFC officials turned their attention to arranging a bout between Woodley and Darren Till to fill the headlining spot. In turn, promotional officials indicated on July 24 that Covington would be stripped of the Interim UFC Welterweight Championship, once the bout between Woodley and Till took place.

Covington returned to face Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC on ESPN 5 on August 3, 2019. He won the fight via a lopsided unanimous decision, setting a record for the most strikes thrown in a UFC bout, with 541 strikes.

Covington faced Kamaru Usman for the UFC Welterweight Championship on December 14, 2019 at UFC 245. Covington sustained a left mandibular fracture as a result of a strike by Usman in the third round and was knocked down twice in the fifth round. The second knockdown was followed by a barrage of strikes by Usman with Covington covering up on the ground and subsequent stoppage by referee Marc Goddard resulting in technical knockout win for Usman. The report from Nevada Athletic Commission stated Convington suffered from a fractured jaw at the fight This fight earned him his first post-fight bonus in the UFC for Fight of the Night. Going into the final round, one judge had Covington winning 39–37, another had it tied at 38–38, and the other had it 39–37 in favor of Usman.

After a long-lasting, public feud and trash talking between Covington and other American Top Team members – most notably Dustin Poirier, Jorge Masvidal and Joanna Jędrzejczyk – Covington eventually parted ways with his first mixed martial arts gym in May 2020.

Covington headlined UFC on ESPN+ 36 against his long-time rival Tyron Woodley on September 19, 2020 After dominating his opponent for four rounds, the bout was called as a technical knockout when Woodley suffered a rib injury.

Covington rematched Kamaru Usman for the UFC Welterweight Championship on November 6, 2021 at UFC 268. Despite a close bout, Covington lost via unanimous decision.

Covington is scheduled to face Jorge Masvidal on March 5, 2022, at UFC 272.

Professional wrestling career

Impact Wrestling (2017)

Covington, along with other American Top Team members, made multiple appearances in Impact Wrestling, where they aligned themselves with Lashley and King Mo. In 2017, they defeated the team of Moose and Stephan Bonnar at Bound for Glory. In the buildup to the event, he hired Stevie Richards to be his strength and conditioning coach.

WrestlePro (2018)

In February 2018, Covington appeared at a WrestlePro event and defeated TyQuill Woodley, a parody character of Tyron Woodley, in a match.

Controversies

Covington is an outspoken supporter of the Republican Party and former President Donald Trump. After winning the Interim UFC Welterweight Championship, he stated he wanted to visit Trump at the White House to present him with the title, which he did on August 2, 2018. Trump phoned to congratulate Covington during his post-fight interview following his win over Tyron Woodley. Covington dedicated his win over Woodley to first responders and the military and criticized Black Lives Matter and LeBron James. Woodley had spoken about his support for the Black Lives Matter movement leading up to the fight.

He has described himself as the “super villain” of the UFC and will often try to upset people with brazen trash talking. Following his 2017 bout with Demian Maia at São Paulo, Brazil, he called the country a “dump” and referred to the Brazilian crowd as “filthy animals” in the post-fight interview. In an interview with Candace Owens, Covington said that his “act” was a response to the UFC threatening to cut him before the Maia fight and stated the “Filthy Animals” speech “saved his career.” Covington further embraced his villain status before his 2019 main event encounter with Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5. He used the WWE entrance theme of professional wrestler Kurt Angle—which is regularly punctuated with crowd chants of “You suck!”—as his entrance music; Angle had given Covington permission to use the theme. With two of Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric cageside for the fight, the crowd performed the “You suck!” chants during Covington’s entrance.

After his win over Lawler, Covington stated; “Let’s talk about the lesson we learned tonight that Robbie should have learned from his good buddy Matt Hughes. You stay off the tracks when the train is coming through, junior, doesn’t matter if it’s the Trump train or the Colby train, get out the way!” during his post-fight interview. This was in reference to a near-fatal accident Hughes suffered in 2017, where he was permanently damaged when his truck was struck by a train at a rail crossing. Despite being criticized by the media, Covington refused to apologize, explaining that “the guy’s done some pretty crappy stuff, he’s got lawsuits against his family, against his brother, I just said the truth, I’m honest. I’m a little bit brutally honest sometimes and people can’t handle it.”

Covington continued his trash-talking in the lead up to the Kamaru Usman fight at UFC 245. During a press conference, he said that Usman gave Glenn Robinson, Usman’s long-time coach who died in 2018, “a heart attack from all those years you were ducking me,” and that Robinson would be “watching from hell on Dec. 14.”

In March 2021, Covington created controversy when he used crude language to claim that he had a sexual relationship with fellow UFC fighter Polyana Viana and that this was part of the reason why he turned down a fight with Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad. Viana herself had earlier claimed that she and Colby were “just friends” and that she already had a boyfriend when addressing rumors that the two of them were in a relationship. After Covington’s comments, Viana gave the following statement through her social media: “I have never given room for any kind of comment or judgment about my personal life, but it is not for me to judge the person’s attitude. I feel sorry for those who act so low to try to promote themselves. It is revolting.”

Championships and accomplishments

Grappling

FILA
- FILA 77 kg No-Gi Grappling World Championship (2013)

Amateur wrestling

National Collegiate Athletic Association
- NCAA Division I All-American out of Oregon State University (2011)
- Pac-10 174 lb Conference Championship out of Oregon State University (2010, 2011)
National Junior College Athletic Association
- NJCAA 165 lb National Championship out of Iowa Central Community College (2007)
- NJCAA All-American out of Iowa Central Community College (2007)
Oregon State Activities Association
- OSAA 171 lb State Championship out of Thurston High School (2006)

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Interim UFC Welterweight Championship (One time)
- Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Kamaru Usman’

Mixed martial arts record

19 matches	16 wins	3 losses
By knockout	4	1
By submission	4	1
By decision	8	1

Source: wikipedia