Israel Adesanya has beaten Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision to lift the UFC middleweight interim belt in a fight of the year contender.
The 29-year-old was on the brink of stopping Gastelum in the final seconds of the fight in the co-main event of UFC 236 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The victory means Adesanya remains unbeaten in the UFC with a 6-0 record and sets up a dream trans-Tasman unification bout with reigning middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Whittaker took to Twitter immediately after Adesanya's win to congratulate him on the victory and signed off with: "See you soon".