Whanganui fight fan Jack Marsden-Mayer is heading to Melbourne to watch Israel Adesanya fight. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui fight fan Jack Marsden-Mayer is heading to Melbourne to watch Israel Adesanya fight. Photo / Bevan Conley
The newest transtasman sporting rivalry is set to explode when former Whanganui fighter Israel Adesanya takes on Australian Robert Whittaker for the UFC middleweight championship in Melbourne on Sunday.
With more than 40,000 tickets sold weeks the before fight, UFC 243 is on track to surpass the live attendance recordset by Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm at the same venue four years ago.
And one of them will be Whanganui artist Jack Marsden-Mayer.
As soon as it was announced that the championship match up would take place in Melbourne, fight fan Marsden-Mayer knew he had to make the trip over.
"I've been watching Izzy since before he got in the UFC, and I always thought if he can put it together in a MMA sense then he's the perfect person for the UFC," Marsden Mayer said.
The road to fight for the UFC middleweight championship has been a 10-year journey for Adesanya who started his training in Whanganui.
Early in his Whanganui training days Adesanya, also known at The Last Stylebender, met former world kickboxing champion Mike Angove who, like Adesanya, also spent his schooling years in Whanganui.
"I saw video tape of him and I remember having a conversation with him saying that Auckland is probably the best place to go if you really want to get consistent, high quality training," Angove said.
"He had good eyes, good rhythm, he moved well and he did things that other people couldn't do.
"Not too long after that he came up to Auckland and that's how it got under way. Since then he's gone from strength to strength."
A Israel Adesanya is looking to capture the undisputed middleweight title at UFC 243. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Angove would end up helping train Adesanya in Auckland and be in his corner for some of his biggest fights.
After years of fighting professionally in kickboxing, boxing, and mixed martial arts, Adesanya began his rise in the UFC in February last year with a second round TKO win in his promotional debut.
Since then he has fought another five times to move his way up the middleweight rankings and keep his professional MMA record intact at 17 wins, 0 loses.
Adesanya's most recent contest was a five round decision win in Atlanta over American Kelvin Gastelum, in which Adesanya claimed the interim middleweight championship and earned the right to challenge undisputed champion Robert Whittaker.
Angove said it was a tough fight where Adesanya gained experience he could use in the future.
"He didn't fight his best but he found a way to win despite not fighting his best.
"Overcoming the adversity, overcoming being tagged and finishing strong in the fifth round.
"Now you're dealing with a different beast to the guy who rolled up before Atlanta, [Israel] is a guy who knows he can dig deep.
"He's well prepared and he knows the challenge that's in front of him and it's the best fighter he would've faced.
"There's no question that Israel mentally needs to be incredibly sharp in this fight."
AIsrael Adesanya (centre) has a background in krumping, which he says has helped his movement in fighting. Photo / File
If Adesanya is successful, Whanganui will have another connection to a combat sports world champion with both Adesanya and Angove travelling similar paths to get to the top, albeit years apart.
"Both of us got our start [in Whanganui] with localised training but we're also wanderers, we have to develop our skills and not be afraid to train elsewhere to continue that growth," Angove said.
"Both of us made the trek to Auckland, both of us would regularly drive a lot of miles just to be in the environment that gave us the most test and challenge.
"Wherever you start, as long as you've got the drive and motivation you can get there and Israel is a prime example of that."
Israel Adesanya is fighting Australian Rob Whittaker for the UFC middleweight championship. Photo / Michael Craig
Adesanya will be joined on the card by his Auckland City Kickboxing teammates Dan Hooker who is fighting in the co-main event, and Brad Riddell who is making his UFC debut.
