On a night where legacy, grit, and warrior spirit were front and center, Israel Adesanya—better known to fans as “The Last Stylebender”—was officially inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. But this wasn’t just a nod to his belt collection. This was a moment honoring the heart-pounding, five-round war that put his name in lights and left fans breathless: Adesanya vs. Gastelum, UFC 236.
Held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the induction ceremony added the epic 2019 bout between Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum to the UFC’s prestigious Fight Wing. It’s the same wing that houses legends like Griffin vs. Bonnar and Silva vs. Sonnen—fights that didn’t just make history, but shook the foundation of MMA culture.
Adesanya’s duel with Gastelum was more than a title fight. It was poetry in violence. Pain, precision, and raw will collided that night, and when the dust settled, the then-interim middleweight title belonged to Adesanya. But ask any fan and they’ll tell you—the real win was what we witnessed in Round 5. That now-iconic stare-down, and Adesanya’s spine-tingling declaration: “I’m prepared to die.”
Fast forward to today, and the Nigerian-born New Zealander is still reflecting on the moment that changed his career forever. “Very grateful,” Adesanya said when the Hall of Fame news first broke. “I knew that was a special fight, a special moment in combat sports history.”
He even shared a moment of respect for his dance partner, Gastelum. “I said, ‘Hey Kelvin, that was us,’ because it takes two to tango. That man can salsa.”
Inside that cage, Adesanya gave fans a version of himself that was stripped down and primal, a man willing to die on his shield. “That was the realest moment I think I’ve ever had in the cage,” he shared. “I wasn’t scared of death. I just thought, ‘if this is how I go out, this is how I go out but I’m going to die trying.’”
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UFC CEO Dana White didn’t hold back either, calling the 2019 showdown “an absolute war,” and one of the greatest fights he’s ever seen.
Kelvin Gastelum, who’s still throwing leather in the UFC’s middleweight division, also took a moment to look back on the magic. “This fight happened six years ago, and I still get so many callbacks and compliments,” he wrote on X. “Feels like something that happens to old people—13 years in this game, and people think I’m done. Far from it.”
While Adesanya’s career is already studded with championship belts, walkout moments, and fashion-forward fight week ‘fits, tonight’s induction isn’t about what comes next. It’s about cementing what already is: a legacy.
Adesanya’s name now sits permanently in the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing, a space reserved for contests that moved the needle and redefined what it means to fight. And in true Stylebender fashion, he’s done it on his own terms—flamboyant, fierce, and fearlessly authentic.
From Lagos to Auckland to Las Vegas, Israel Adesanya’s journey has never followed the conventional path. But tonight, his name takes its place among the sport’s immortals.
