Israel Adesanya Makes Major Admission over ‘Greatest’ UFC Walkout: “Wasn’t Worried About Fight”

UFC middleweight Israel Adesanya performed dance routine with little prep time before KOing Robert Whittaker at UFC 243.

Israel Adesanya Makes Major Admission over ‘Greatest’ UFC Walkout: “Wasn’t Worried About Fight”

Israel Adesanya lets in on iconic UFC 243 walkout before Robert Whittaker showdown (Source: X)

There isn’t a plethora of UFC names that just burst onto the competition with prime style. But ‘Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya touts his moniker for a reason. Adesanya’s thematic openings and walkouts are a one-of-a-kind spectacle. One of which, he performed in front of 57,000 waving fans before a UFC 185-pound showdown vs. Robert Whittaker.

Israel Adesanya logged six highlight wins in a row before his first title shot, including a HOF-worthy FOTY scrapper vs. Kelvin Gastelum. At UFC 243 in 2019, Adesanya achieved his moment of triumph, engaging in a showdown with Robert Whittaker in a battle. The all-ANZAC theme clash came to be in front of the biggest quantitative crowd in UFC history! What’s now even more special about Izzy’s choreography was the prep for it, or lack thereof.

That was just for fun. I prepped that walkout the night before. So, going to bed, I had the replay of my walkout—the practice—on my phone. I was like, ‘Fu*k this is gonna look cool as fu*k,’ as I fell asleep. So I wasn’t worried about the fight; we already did the work.

Many people consider Adesanya’s entrance routine at UFC 243 to be one of the best in UFC/MMA culture. That is saying something given his thematic representations, walkouts, and even generic love for global anime. It’s something that stayed viral for long, with TNT Sports’ snippet of it recently wheezing past 5.7 million views! But even more so, his performance next against Robert Whittaker was one for the books as well.

After a closely-contested opening frame, Israel Adesanya dropped the ‘Reaper’ with a nasty right hook, but Robert Whittaker got saved by the bell on the drop. However, the Kiwi-Nigerian wasn’t willing to punt with unsure chances.

The second time around, he executed a superb pull counter left hook and KOed the rival for good. He and Whittaker have since had some ‘organic’ link-ups and training sessions, reliving such moments. One ‘moment’ that did not similarly become so iconic for Izzy is when one classic rival pawned off on it.

Drop and Show and Tell? ‘Poatan’ got it from Israel Adesanya

Kickboxer and GLORY Hall of Famer Alex Pereira crossed over and shock-and-awed Adesanya at UFC 281. Adesanya logged in quite a performance and snagged back undisputed gold via second-round KO at UFC 287 PPV. Sometimes, it’s been quite the rivalry and callbacks; other times it’s been water under the bridge.

Another Israel Adesanya iconic gesture did not milk so well his way
Another Israel Adesanya iconic gesture did not milk so well his way (Source: X)

With the history he and Pereira have together, it’s not weird to get some tips and tricks from each other’s shelves. What was weirdly good, though, was Pereira’s post-fight emote at the UFC 300 PPV event headliner. He knocked the winds of former champ Jamahal Hill via a left shovel hook and some minute ground-and-pound.

Pre-fight, Israel Adesanya had tipped Hill with pointers, tagging him with the skills to win this. However, when the dust settled, Pereira tossed a “told you so” signage, looking in Adesanya’s direction. At the time, the common consensus just found similarities with influencer Khaby Lame’s hand-drop gesture. But as it turned out, Adesanya had collaborated with Lame just a few months prior to that!

Keen and taking notice, Poatan thus made the matter quite viral. After that, he punctuated two more iconic title defense KOs all the way to MMA fighter of the Year Honors and missed Best ESPY Fighter by a small margin. The duo has halted all rivalry since then. But it’s those little moments between iconic fighters that make it all the more memorable.

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