Does Israel Adesanya have a wife or girlfriend?

Israel Adesanya is a famous New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines. As of November 14, 2022, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings, and as of March 21, 2023, he is #5 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings. Does Israel Adesanya have a wife or girlfriend? In this post, we will take a look at his relationship history and other details about his personal life.

ALSO READ: Meet Israel Adesanya’s parents, Oluwafemi and Taiwo

Israel Adesanya Biography

Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and was the oldest of five siblings. His parents, Oluwafemi and Taiwo, were professionals, with his father working as an accountant and his mother as a nurse. Adesanya enrolled in the Taekwondo after-school club at Chrisland School, Opebi, but had to withdraw after suffering an injury.

When he was ten years old, Adesanya and his family moved to Ghana for 10 months before settling in Rotorua, New Zealand. He attended Rotorua Boys’ High School but was more interested in watching Japanese anime such as Naruto and Death Note than in sports. He was bullied during high school, which motivated him to take up martial arts later on.

Adesanya’s seven-fight winning streak began in May 2010 when he won his first fight against Tim Atonio by unanimous decision. He fought mostly in China with Wu Lin Feng and won his next six fights, which led to his participation in the 2014 Kunlun Fight 80 kg tournament held during Kunlun Fight 2. He lost in the semifinal bout against Simon Marcus.

Adesanya made his debut in Glory at Glory 15 but lost to Filip Verlinden by a unanimous decision. He later defeated Verlinden in a rematch at Glory of Heroes 3. He won five of his next six fights, including victories over Yousri Belgaroui and Bogdan Stoica. His only loss in this period was to Alex Pereira, who went on to become the GLORY Middleweight champion.

In 2016, Adesanya won the Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament by defeating Yousri Belgaroui. He fought Jason Wilnis for the Glory Middleweight championship at Glory 37: Los Angeles but lost by unanimous decision, although the result was controversial.

Adesanya’s last kickboxing fight before transitioning to MMA was a rematch with Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7, which Pereira won by knockout. He then faced Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship in the co-main event of UFC 236 on April 13, 2019. Adesanya won the back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 48-46, earning him the Fight of the Night award. This fight was widely considered the best fight of the year and was nominated by most MMA news outlets.

Adesanya faced Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout on October 6, 2019, at UFC 243, where he won the UFC Middleweight Championship after knocking down Whittaker in the last second of the first round and winning by knockout in the second round. This earned him his fourth Performance of the Night award.

Apart from kickboxing and MMA, Adesanya also had a brief stint in professional boxing when he entered the inaugural cruiserweight Super 8 Boxing Tournament in November 2014 and suffered a controversial loss via unanimous decision.