Israel Adesanya is enjoying the fruits of his labour after knocking out Robert Whittaker to become the UFC middleweight champion.
After stopping Robert Whittaker to claim the undisputed UFC Middleweight Championship, Israel Adesanya jumped on top of the octagon, blew kisses to his family before flipping the bird to Paulo Costa.
The Brazilian middleweight appeared to be next in line for a title shot and had talked a lot about how he believed he would be able to beat Adesanya.
The two were likely to meet in early 2020, however UFC boss Dana White told The Schmo that the Brazilian has had to have surgery on his biceps and would be sidelined for eight months – thus putting to rest talks of a title fight for the time being.
Despite an ESPN report claiming Costa would be ready to go in April and no replacement needed to be found, White said the company was putting something else in motion for Adesanya in the meantime.
Christopher Reive looks at the five likely candidates to challenge the Kiwi UFC champion in Costa's absence.
lost to Paulo Costa via split decision. August 2019.
Yoel Romero has eight performance bonuses in his UFC career. Photo / Getty Images
It seems Romero isn't aware that you're supposed to show signs of ageing as you get older. The man is 42-years-old and still competing with the best the world has to offer. Most recently, he fought the aforementioned Costa to a razor-thin decision loss (which he was unlucky to get, but that's a story for another day).
The Cuban has a 13-4 professional record (9-3 UFC), and has been awarded eight performance bonuses in his time with the promotion. But while he's still extremely competitive with the division's top talent, he has had back-to-back losses, and have lost three of his last four fights. The Olympic silver medalist wrestler has voiced his desire to step up to fight Adesanya, and despite his poor recent record, it's a fight that would appeal to the casual fans because of Romero's reputation as a warhorse.
beat Jack Hermansson via TKO (punches) in round two. September 2019.
Jared Cannonier has won three straight bouts. Photo / Getty Images
Cannonier has seeming shot out of nowhere to take the middleweight division by storm in the past 12 months. A former heavyweight and light heavyweight, Cannonier has maintained his power while dropping down to middleweight. He showed it when destroying the lead leg of UFC legend Anderson Silva in Brazil earlier this year – where he won by TKO as Silva could not stand – then again with a TKO win over highly ranked Jack Hermansson, with one punch all but ending the fight.
Speaking immediately after beating Whittaker, Adesanya named Cannonier as the contender he was most interested in and, riding a three-win streak with two of those wins over opponents who were ranked in the top 15 at the time, has claims to a shot at the strap. He last fought in September, and would more than likely be fit to go for an early 2020 bout.
Robert Whittaker
Last fight:
lost to Israel Adesanya via TKO (punches) in round two. October 2019.
Robert Whittaker held the UFC middleweight title for more than two years. Photo / Getty Images
Whittaker saw his title reign of more than two years come to an abrupt end in Melbourne earlier this month, suffering a second-round TKO loss to Adesanya at UFC 243. You can guarantee 'Bobby Knuckles' wants a shot at redemption. His performance in the defence against Adesanya probably wouldn't warrant an immediate rematch but, given the incumbent challenger has been ruled out; Whittaker could make a case for another chance to wear the belt.
The Kiwi-born fighter boasts an 8-1 record in the UFC's middleweight division, with his most recent loss before being stopped by Adesanya coming in a welterweight bout in 2014. During his first run to the title he beat five fighters still currently ranked in the top 15, including back-to-back wins over Cuban juggernaut Yoel Romero (more on him later).
Despite the TKO loss to Adesanya, Whittaker sustained no major injuries and has indicated he wants to get back into the octagon as soon as he can. Watch this space.
Kelvin Gastelum
Last fight:
lost to Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision. April 2019.
Kelvin Gastelum went five rounds with Israel Adesanya in April. Photo / Getty Images
There's a slight asterisk over Gastelum in this discussion as he has a bout against Darren Till (more on him later, too) at UFC 244 this weekend. However, Gastelum went five rounds with Adesanya in April in a fight that will go down as one of the greatest to ever be held in a UFC octagon. The 28-year-old American gave Adesanya his toughest test to date by far – being the first, and only, one of the Kiwi champion's opponents to do significant damage.
Gastelum is a terrific boxer, has a solid grappling game and has shown he's capable of throwing a few surprises into his game – Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman said even they weren't expecting the 175cm Gastelum to try, let alone execute, a head kick in the fourth round against the 193cm Kiwi.
Should Gastelum see off Till this weekend, expect him to ask for another shot at the champ.
lost to Jorge Masvidal (welterweight) via KO (punches) in round two. March 2019.
Darren Till makes his middleweight debut this weekend. Photo / Getty Images
The Liverpool brawler is a wild card in this conversation. As previously mentioned, he fights Gastelum this weekend at UFC 244 in New York. This fight will be Till's middleweight debut, after being stopped in his two most recent bouts at welterweight.
Just two fights ago he was unbeaten in 18 fights and squaring off against then-welterweight champion Tyrone Woodley with the strap on the line. However, the 183cm Till always appeared to be a big welterweight and had plenty of issues with cutting weight to make the 79kg limit. With the middleweights fighting at 84kg, Till is stepping up to what would seem to be a natural weight class for him.
Should Till stun the No4-ranked Gastelum, he would have some sort of case to make for a title shot – although it's more likely even if he beats Gastelum he'll need at least one more win in the division to go for the title… probably.
