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Israel Adesanya Beats Kelvin Gastelum To Win Interim UFC Middleweight Title At UFC 236

MMA UFC
Sean Ross Sapp Apr 14, 2019 12:32AM

The land of the interims saw another champion crowned at UFC 236 in Atlanta Saturday night.

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With UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker out of action for the next few months, his original opponent Kelvin Gastelum hoped he could cash in his championship opportunity against the highly touted and fast rising Israel Adesanya. Prefaced by Gastelum parading around a championship belt that wasn't his after Adesanya's last fight, he had to make good on his trash talk at UFC 236.

That happened -- but only to a degree. An all-time classic UFC Middleweight Championship fight resulted in Adesanya taking home the interim title after an unbelievable fifth round that saw him run away with the fight. 

Adesanya opened the fight strong, but had the middle rounds taken from him before mounting a comeback and getting better and more aggressive as the fight went on. In the end, he emerged victorious, extending his undefeated record with a unanimous decision and 48-46 scorecards across the board.

Elsewhere on the show, Nikita Krylov avenged his submission loss to #12 Ovince Saint Preux by coming back and choking him out. #5 Alexandre Pantoja also quite possibly ended the UFC career of #4 Wilson Reis with a first round TKO win. 

You can see our full UFC 236 live coverage at this link, and our post-show podcast at this link. The Fightful MMA panel will also be breaking down the happenings on Tuesday at 2 PM EST for the Fightful MMA Podcast. 

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