Israel Adesanya reveals he channelled a character from Death Note against Robert Whittaker yet again

Israel Adesanya reveals he channelled a character from Death Note against Robert Whittaker yet again

Israel Adesanya- L (Death Note)

UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya is at the top of the world, defending his title for the fourth time and against the toughest opponent in the middleweight division in Robert Whittaker. Adesanya has definitely shut more doubters like he always does with each win. Adesanya’s significant victories now include the likes of Anderson Silva, Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker (twice), Yoel Romero, Marvin Vettori, Paulo Costa and many more. However, Adesanya’s fighting style is not the only thing he has to offer uniquely on the table.

Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya

Adesanya’s walkout, up to the point where he performs certain gestures when longtime UFC announcer Bruce Buffer introduces his name, is indicative of the fact that he is a huge anime stan. Out of the many animes Adesanya has watched, two of them stand out most of his time, Naruto and Death Note. Adesanya as always, did one of those unique gestures whilst hearing his name from Buffer at UFC 271 when he was defending his belt in a rematch with preceding champion Whittaker.

Israel Adesanya talks about one of the most beloved Death Note characters in anime history

Michael Chandler on Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker at UFC 271

At MMA Fighting’s The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Adesanya came to the studio to talk about where the reference from his recent gesture came from in which Adesanya chewed his thumb and slammed his hand to the ground during his intro at UFC 271.

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“L from Death Note,” answered Adesanya “Because the last time I fought Whittaker I, you know, the character I tapped into was the Shinigami Ryuk, and also, what’s his name, Light, Light Yagami and Rob [Whittaker] is the Reaper [Whittaker’s nickname] so he’s supposed to be the God of Death. So I was like, I know the real God of Death, you know, so Shinigami called Ryuk so I tapped into that and that had some great consequences later on that won’t go into…

YouTube video

I do these things with intent,” Adesanya continued “There’s some juju and all that kind of stuff involved but I don’t want to talk about that… ancestral spiritual stuff… L, if you watched death note is just like a very cerebral player so that was who I was channelling…” Adesanya concluded, meaning this time, he didn’t intend to rush to end Whittaker so he directed his energy in channelling the smartest character in anime created.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiTAsK0sYjs

What do you make of Adesanya taking his musing to approach fighting from watching anime? Do you watch anime too, what’s your favourite one? Death Note is widely considered by many as the best anime ever created with only one season but 37 episodes. What are your thoughts on Death Note? What do you think is next for Adesanya?

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