Michael Bisping, former UFC welterweight champion and current commentator, believes that Israel Adesanya is still a long way from claiming the title of the greatest middleweight of all time. With his recent decision win over Robert Whittaker, his fourth title defense, Adesanya is second only to Anderson Silva for 185-pound title defenses. Bisping, however, says there’s still a long way to go before you can even compare the two.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Bisping declared Silva the unquestionable GOAT, purely on the numbers. “I’m just gonna throw it out there: Anderson Silva is the greatest middleweight of all time.
Bisping: Adesanya Far From Middleweight GOAT: “Anderson Silva Has Just Done More”
Now that’s not a knock on Israel Adesanya. Let’s break it down. Let’s look at it. Israel came to the UFC and he wanted to achieve great things, right from day one. He was always comparing himself to others, wanting to beat records, wanting to get to the title quicker, wanting to have the most defenses, and go down in the record books as an absolute legend. And he will do that because he is a legend.
He is the man. He’s on top of the sport right now. But Anderson Silva has just done more. It’s as simple as that. Professional career record of 34-11, 16-fight win streak in the UFC which is the longest, 14 stoppages, 12 KOs, 2 subs, and he defended the belt 11 times. Just because Travis Lutter doesn’t make weight, I still count that as a defense.”
But what about Israel Adesanya’s record? “His career record is 22-1, very nice. 15 KOs overall, only 4 KOs in the UFC, though, and only four title defenses.
We know Izzy likes to say he has five title defenses because he won the interim belt against [Kelvin Gastelum] and then he unified the belt against Robert Whittaker. When you’re the interim champion, you’re only the number one contender. We know this.
Listen, if I was Israel, maybe I’d feel the same way. I’m not trying to sh*t on him, I’m not trying to take away from his achievements, far from it, but beating Robert Whittaker to become the champ wasn’t a title defense.”
Ultimately, however, Michael Bisping says “The Last Stylebender” still has time to snap at Silva’s heels. “Izzy is fantastic. Izzy’s great. Izzy’s the middleweight champion of the world. But is Izzy the GOAT of the middleweight division? No, he’s not.
But the reality is, he might be one day. He might be one day but he’s still got a long way to go.” Do you think Israel Adesanya has a chance at being the greatest UFC middleweight of all time? Let us know in the comments.
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