For the better part of a round, Rob Wilkinson did a reasonable enough job holding off Israel Adesanya.
The Australian middleweight slowed down the debuting kickboxing phenom, closing the distance and stifling him in the clinch.
The second round, though, was a different story.
Adesanya ruthlessly picked apart Wilkinson at UFC 221 in Perth on Saturday night, unleashing an onslaught of kicks, knees and punches. The carnage continued until the bout was waved off for a TKO at the 3:37 mark.
“Middleweights, I’m the new dog in the yard,” said Adesanya, from New Zealand by way of Nigeria. “I just pissed all over the cage.”
Adesanya, who is now 12-0 in MMA with 12 knockouts, is also 50-5-2 in kickboxing and 5-1 as a pro boxer. He said if the UFC roster didn’t know who he was before, the sure do now.
“I see you guys creeping on my Instagram,” Adesanya said. “I know you guys act like you don’t know me, but you know who I am now.”
Wilkinson dropped to 11-2, 0-2 in the UFC.