“Let me take a step back” – How Israel Adesanya’s therapist helped him gain perspective on Black Lives Matter movement

“Let me take a step back” – How Israel Adesanya’s therapist helped him gain perspective on Black Lives Matter movement

Israel Adesanya at Black Lives Matter protests

Israel Adesanya might be an absolute killer inside the octagon but even he had his share of mental health issues during the COVID-19 lockdown.

When the entire world was locked up, Israel Adesanya decided to hire a professional expert to help him with his mental health issues. Adesanya’s therapy sessions also happened to help him gain a new perspective on social movements like the Black Lives Matter protests that happened during the pandemic following the unjust murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA.

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In a recent interview on Morning Kombat dived into how seeking professional mental health care helped him. Thanks to his “possibility manager”, Adesanya was able to deal with some of his “personal sh*t” and work on himself “internally”. “She doesn’t like to call herself a therapist, she calls herself a possibility manager, and yeah, it was cool just to get a lot of tools from her,” said Adesanya.

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During the Black Lives Matter protests that happened all around the world following the murder of George Floyd, Adesanya was also very vocal in the streets of Auckland. Like anyone else, Stylebender was also triggered by this issue but thanks to his “possibility manager” he did not let the emotions get the better of him.

“It made me react but then eventually now when the BLM, not the movement, the company got started off, eventually there was a point when I saw things happening and I was like, ‘Let me take a step back and have a look. Let me see,'” said Adesanya.

Read more:  Not an attention seeker! Israel Adesanya will not bring his belt to championship fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

When Israel Adesanya praised his biggest rival for opening up on mental health

Israel Adesanya belt
Israel Adesanya

Leading up to his rematch against Robert Whittaker, the former middleweight champion at UFC 271, Israel Adesanya went viral for praising his rival for opening up about his mental health issues. Losing the undisputed middleweight belt to Adesanya during their first meeting poorly affected “The Reaper”.

Also read: “You wouldn’t even expect it” – Fans speculate Israel Adesanya will shock the world by taking down Alex Pereira at UFC 281

He then went on to talk about how bad he felt losing in front of his home crowd at UFC 243. In the leadup to the rematch, Izzy appreciated his rival in an interview with The Independent. “I haven’t heard much about it, but yeah, good on him for being open and vulnerable,” said Adesanya.

“That’s what makes you strong; being vulnerable. I know this because I do this all the time. I’m super vulnerable with my emotions,” added Adesanya in the interview. Izzy has always been very vocal about breaking stereotypes and embracing mental health care.

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