There has been surprisingly little talk about Israel Adesanya challenging the perception of Anderson Silva as the greatest middleweight in MMA history, even as Adesanya goes about cleaning out the UFC's 185-pound class for a second time.
Adesanya, who on Saturday in Sydney, Australia, defends his belt against Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 293, clearly deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as the legendary Silva, the long-time middleweight champion.
After a no-contest with Nick Diaz, he lost consecutive bouts to Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier. He broke the skein with a win over Derek Brunson, but concluded his MMA career with losses to Adesanya, Jared Cannonier and Uriah Hall. He was stopped by both Cannonier and Hall, and was clearly fighting well beyond his prime.
Silva is the only Hall of Famer that Adesanya has fought at this point, though several of his past opponents could wind up making it. Adesanya can be 14-2 with a win over Strickland, and has lucrative potential bouts with Dricus Du Plessis, Khamzat Chimaev and others potentially ahead of him. It wouldn't be a shock to see Adesanya try another bout at light heavyweight, where elite opponents like Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill would be there to challenge him.
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