Preview: UFC 234 ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’

Middleweights
Israel Adesanya (15-0) vs. Anderson Silva (34-8, 1 N/C)

Odds: Adesanya (-650), Silva (+475)

What a difference a year makes. This card comes one day shy of a year after Israel Adesanya's debut, and in that span "The Last Stylebender" has gone from interesting prospect to one of the promotion's most marketable rising stars. Adesanya was a known commodity when UFC 221 came around last February, but more thanks to his kickboxing career than his undefeated MMA record. And indeed, his debut against Rob Wilkinson showed the best and the worst of how those skills would translate; Wilkinson, a rather one-dimensional grinder, was able to control Adesanya for about a round and a half until the Kiwi was able to come back and obliterate Wilkinson for a finish. There figured to be an adjustment period for Adesanya to stay float against UFC-level grappling, but as it turns out, he's a natural. Against increasingly tough competition, Adesanya's been able to disincentivize opponents from wrestling with him and able to survive when they do, culminating with an impressive first-round win against a good version of Derek Brunson. So Adesanya has the skills, the exciting fight style and the charisma to be a contender just a year into his UFC career - now it's a matter of getting him the win to put him over the top into a title fight. Most figured it'd be one last test of his wrestling, against Jacare Souza or a reasonable facsimile, but instead, the UFC's decided to go the easier route, putting him in a position to get a big-name win over Anderson Silva.

Silva's career is the stuff of legend, far beyond the scope of this space; the first seven years of his UFC career were 16 up, 16 down, as Silva spent every fight making his opponents look foolish, whether it was scaring them into complete inactivity or obliterating them with some of the best counter-striking in the sport as soon as they made a mistake. Silva racked up ridiculous finish after ridiculous finish to put together one of the best highlight reels in the history of MMA, and while his duo of losses to Chris Weidman marked a clear passing of the torch, it also -- shockingly -- seems to have been the end of Silva as an effective fighter. Part of that is obviously that Silva shattered his leg in the second fight, but the last four years have just been weird and unimpressive. His rescinded win over Nick Diaz was just a bizarre fight that ended with both men failing drug tests, and once Silva's suspension was done, his controversial loss to Michael Bisping showed that the former champ simply didn't have it anymore; Silva was capable of bursts of offense that captured some of his old magic, but a then-40 year old Silva had to take too many rounds off in order to get a clear victory. Then came a strange and instantly forgotten late-notice spot against Daniel Cormier, which saw Cormier out-wrestle Silva without much trouble, and Silva's last fight against Brunson didn't accomplish much else besides getting Silva a win. And even that was undeserved; Brunson was clearly in his own head and much too passive, but Silva did little else but posture and throw Brunson off his game, earning all three scorecards without much in the way of effective offense. Then came another drug suspension, so two years later, Silva is nearing on 44 years old and facing an upgraded version of his younger self.

This is what it obviously is, an attempt for Adesanya to make his name against a legend in a fight that will hopefully be more exciting than depressing. Silva can always win a fight via slickness and posturing if his opponent lets him, but this doesn't seem like a fight where that'll happen. Yes, Adesanya idolized Silva growing up, but Adesanya also has yet to shrink from a moment and seems more than prepared to kill his hero. Such is the fight game. The pick is Adesanya via second-round knockout, and even that feels a bit generous.

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