Izzy the new face of the UFC?

Since arriving in the UFC in February of last year, Nigerian-born New-Zealander Israel Adesanya has been on a relentless tear through the middleweight division. It all culminated in the man they call 'The Last Stylebender' becoming the undisputed Middleweight Champion in front of a sold-out 57,000 crowd at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

Adesanya ticks all the boxes when it comes to mega-stardom in combat sport. A stand-up fighter with a kickboxing background, Adesanya has been one of the most active UFC fighters in the last 18 months. He has fought seven times in that period. By contrast, his opponent on Saturday night, the now-former Champion Robert Whittaker was having his second fight in the same time span.

MMA fans love this kind of activity from fighters. They love the notion of a fighter that fights 'anyone, anywhere'. This is partly why Conor McGregor was so heralded, Conor epitomized this attitude when he first came to the UFC.

In many ways, Adesanya fills the void left by McGregor. Like McGregor, Adesanya is a charismatic, gifted striker that isn't afraid to 'talk-the-talk and -walk-the-walk'.

Nothing encapsulated this more than Adesanya's walkout on Saturday.

The entrance was epic.

It was ballsy too (to say the least)! Personally I loved it. It's hard to bet against a man that executes a flawless dance routine moments before entering a cage to throw down with one of the baddest men on the planet.

However, truth be told, Adesanya had already had his gut-check moment in the Octagon.

That came in his fight for the Interim title against Kelvin Gastelum.

After being badly rocked in the fourth round by Gastelum, Adesanya came out for the fifth and final round level on the cards and looking on the brink of defeat. Most fighters would have been taken out in the fourth. Very few would have been looking to do anything more than surviving the fifth. Adesanya came out and won the final round and the title. He didn't just win it, he dominated Gastelum, winning the final round 10-8 on the judge's scorecards.

Adesanya is a special fighter. He has that Anderson Silva magic about him. That skinny guy in a division full of monsters that has all the skills, timing and courage to best them all. And Adesanya wasted no time on Saturday night calling out his next challenge.... the formidable Paulo Costa who was ringside and I guess only Israel could get away with calling him a 'Ricky Martin wannabe'.

In terms of box-office appeal, it's these kind of antics that make Adesanya gold.

Adesanya has the persona of a comic book protagonist. A quirky, authentic personality that can draw in a cross-over audience that Silva couldn't quite capture. If Adesanya goes on to come close to matching Silva's feats inside the Octagon, the UFC could have something special on their hands indeed.