The contrast between the fighting styles of Jason Wilnis and Israel Adesanya could not be more starkly contrasted. Wilnis is an exponent of the classic 'forward pressure' style of Dutch kickboxing, Adesanya a master of evasiveness and misdirection.
Adesanya says he does not believe in taking unnecessary damage. In pre-fight interviews he disparaged that school of kickboxing which has fighters wading through blows in order to deliver their own strikes. That just happens to be the system that Wilnis espouses.
And so the stage was set at GLORY 37 LOS ANGELES not just for a middleweight title fight but for a clash of styles and philosophies. Over five rounds both fighters would seek to not only impose their will but also prove that their system is the best.
Over the first two frames it was Adesanya who was being proved correct. His length and range advantage was to full effect as he posted his left arm on Wilnis' head to keep him at a distance where he could be hit without being in position to hit back.
It was a tricky two rounds for Wilnis as Adesanya put his range of tricks into effect. His plan was to frustrate Wilnis by making him miss over and over. It was successful a lot of the time, though Wilnis was scoring repeatedly with his trademark leg kicks.
That turned out to be money in the bank for him as the pace of the fight changed halfway in. Wilnis began figuring Adesanya out and was able to start working around his tricks and traps. On volume Adesanya had the higher output but in terms of damaging strikes it was Wilnis who threw with the most venom.
Was the question of stylistically superiority answered over five rounds? Not conclusively. The fight could easily have continued several more rounds before a decisive advantage emerged for either. But five rounds is as much as a title fight is allocated and so the encounter's result was put to the judges.
All three saw it for Wilnis, giving him the unanimous decision win. Adesanya's corner protested bitterly, convinced that their man was the winner. The judges' scores differed slightly but the consensus appeared to be that Wilnis had taken the final three rounds with his more damaging blows.
