If there is one fighter to keep your eye on outside of the UFC, Israel “The Style Bender” Adesanya is the man.

Above is Adesanya’s brutal, technical and above all beautiful stoppage win over Pati Atofa which took place in a kickboxing bout last year.

Adesanya is primarily known for his career as a pure striker but has changed his focus to mixed martial arts recently. He has compiled an impressive undefeated record of six wins and no losses in his MMA career thus far. While it is too early make these kinds of comparisons, it is hard not to draw parallels between the rangy striker and the legend Anderson Silva for the pinpoint accuracy and potent finishing ability that they share.

The Nigerian-born fighter was raised and has fought largely in New Zealand but has recently taken several MMA fights in China.

Adesanya spoke with the New Zealand Herald after his boxing win over Brian Minto last year and indicated that he aims to compete in the UFC by the end of 2016:

He hopes that determination will land him a spot in the world’s biggest MMA promotion. His grappling and wrestling is improving, while he would also take a lethal striking background to the UFC’s octagon.

“End of 2016,” he proclaimed. “The thing is, you don’t want to rush it. You want to be able to get your experience outside the UFC first. So we’ll do that, definitely; then we’ll jump in.

“The guys that have jumped in straight away, they’ve failed massively.”

Considering he is using boxing as a way to develop his all-round game, it’s proved one heck of a lucrative hobby. Saturday’s win provided the biggest payday of his career.

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“I know I can do big things in MMA and I’ve got the tools for it,” the 25-year-old said. “So I want to be a fully-versed martial artist.”

source: nzherald.nz.co