Israel Adesanya comes clean about controversially representing China: “…because money”
Former two-time UFC 185-pound champ Israel Adesanya revisits repping China with their flag during kickboxing days.
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Israel Adesanya reiterates reason for flying Chinese flag in kickboxing (Source: X)
The former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya finds himself in a different spot now. Adesanya is on a three-fight losing streak for the first time in his professional career. However, he has produced quite the highlights over the years. In contrast, the Kiwi-Nigerian has also found himself in trouble for his past. One of them involved repping China and carrying a Chinese flag in kickboxing!
Fans were a little in the dark when Sean Strickland repeatedly referred to him as Chinese ahead of the UFC 293 PPV media day. Strickland made the initial digs in an appearance on the JRE podcast in 2023 as well. This happened after a video of Israel Adesanya holding the Chinese flag circulated. Now, Izzy weighed in on it.
China had a really hot, you know, kickboxing scene, and yeah I moved over there to be one of the guys they beat on. And eventually they realized ‘Oh. we can’t beat him let’s hire him.’ So, they put me on the team and then they gave me a story gave me a script it’s like kind of…kind of WWE type sh*t…but real fighting yeah…China because money! Moni…moni!
Israel Adesanya on his Official YT Channel (@FreeStylebender)
After Strickland’s allegations went viral, Adesanya admitted in a video to embracing Chinese culture. Although born in Nigeria and now based in New Zealand, much of Adesanya’s decorated kickboxing career was spent on local Chinese circuits. He went by the ring moniker ‘The Black Dragon.’ The UFC superstar bent routines to even star in funny Chinese gigs and product ads as a side hustle.
Israel Adesanya speaks about the Chinese promo.
— Jimmy Luke (@Joshjoshmma) May 5, 2023
Ngl I Wana see the baby one 💀 pic.twitter.com/kSFNHxM7zD
At Glory ͏of Heroes 1 (GLORY) he would also meet Alex “Poatan” Pereira, starting with an epic rivalry. Pereira and Adesanya have met four times: twice kickboxing, twice MMA. Pereira is 2-0 in kickboxing. In MMA, however, the two fighters are evenly matched. “Poatan” beat him at UFC 281, and Adesanya snagged back gold via second-round KO at UFC 287 PPV. However, the days at the top remain numbered.
Israel Adesanya has ‘no expectation’ he’ll be champion again
‘The Last Stylebender’ is philosophical about his career after three straight defeats. Such is the nature of Israel Adesanya that he makes records even in losses. He has never faced three defeats in a row. Now, it’s making him reconsider his drive and how he goes about it. At UFC Saudi Arabia, Nassourdine Imavov recently knocked out the ex-champ early in the main event at ANB Arena.
Having gone on a long 12-fight title bout streak, this was Izzy’s first non-title fight in almost six years. He has now lost to the current champ, the two-time recent title challenger, and a potential top contender. Where he goes from here isn’t clear, even to Adesanya. During a lengthy Q&A session on his YouTube channel, Izzy talked about the shift in thinking.
Do I have a title shot in mind for the future? No — I’ll say this, when I got to the UFC, I never chased the belt. I expected it. I expected to be champion, I expected to get to this point that I wanted to get to because of the work I put in and the mindset, the belief, I knew with everything I did, I was going to get to it…But after this fight [with Imavov] I’m just like, ‘You know what? I’m not expecting anything. I’m not expecting to be the champion again.
Israel Adesanya further said
Adesanya is 35 and has competed in over 100 professional fights (kickboxing, MMA, and boxing). After DDP, Adesanya thought he’d chase it again; rematch it – even against Strickland someday just to close the book on it. If a title shot does come to him, he’ll gladly take it. Right now, Izzy said he’s content with what he’s done in the sport and won’t be chasing it.
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