There may have been those that doubted Israel Adesanya ahead of The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale on Friday in Las Vegas, but after he put on a dominant performance against one of the top fighters in the UFC middleweight division, there should be little doubt that Adesanya has arrived.
Tavares punched his way through Adesanya’s reach advantage to clinch and put him on the fence from the opening bell, but Adesanya quickly escaped the clinch. Tavares kept pressing forward, while Adesanya shifted stances, looking for an opening, which he would eventually find again and again.
Tavares landed the first power punches of the fight, as Adesanya began using his kicks, both low and to the body, midway through the first round.
Adesanya started to get his jab going late in the opening frame, slowing Tavares’ aggressive approach, and setting up more of his kicks. He went for a funky roll toward the end of the round and landed underneath Tavares, but time ran out before any damage was done.
Adesanya did a good job of keeping his distance from Tavares early in round two, landing a variety of punches and kicks, but mostly of the one-off variety. Tavares kept his defense tight, but his output slowed tremendously compared to his more aggressive approach in round one.
Following a stern warning from the referee for his fingers being extended in Tavares’ face, Adesanya got Tavares to the canvas, visibly hurting the Hawaiian, but was unable to fully capitalize on the position.
Tavares opened aggressively again in round three, but Adesanya continued his low kicks that were so effective in round two, and Tavares started to pull back more from the accumulating damage to his lead leg.