Former UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman rose to the highest of the divisions, and the game, on the identical time.
Adesanya captured the undisputed middleweight crown at UFC 243 in October 2019 by knocking out Robert Whittaker. He held the interim championship heading into the title unification bout. Usman received the welterweight championship in March 2019, defeating Tyron Woodley through unanimous choice at UFC 235.
Adesanya and Usman’s paths by no means crossed contained in the octagon, however the two lately sparred collectively in South Florida and Adesanya launched the footage on YouTube.
Neither Adesanya or Usman at present maintain UFC championships. Adesanya misplaced the middleweight title to Alex Pereira at UFC 282 earlier than profitable again in a rematch at UFC 287. He was then defeated by Sean Strickland and misplaced his subsequent two fights. Regardless of being on a three-fight shedding streak, “The Final Stylebender” is ranked No. 4 within the 185-pound division.
Usman’s welterweight championship reign ended at UFC 278 when he was knocked out by Leon Edwards. He got here up brief in opposition to Edwards in a rematch at UFC 286. Usman can be on a three-fight profitable streak, shedding to Khamzat Chimaev in a brief discover middleweight conflict at UFC 294 in October 2023 in his final outing. He is ranked No. 4 within the 170-pound weight class.
