“When Nigerians start to flood in…” Israel Adesanya predicts more Nigerian champions in UFC similar to domination from Brazil and Dagestani fighters

Israel Adesanya is confidently set on Nigerians flooding the fighting stage in the foreseeable future, with proportional frequency to Brazilian and Dagestani combatants.

“When Nigerians start to flood in…” Israel Adesanya predicts more Nigerian champions in UFC similar to domination from Brazil and Dagestani fighters

Israel Adesanya wishes for more Nigerian fighters, inspired by him and Kamaru Usman (Source: IMAGO)

UFC is the premier combat sports platform and proving ground. The combative sports promotion boasts a plethora of fighters, from various nationalities and origins. However, former middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya thinks the Nigerian roster must flourish further, beyond him and Kamaru Usman. The 24-3 striker is one of the few names representing his country wholly, along with a handful of others. He recently attended the ‘Day of Reckoning’ event which he showered with high praise.

Adesanya also instigated the example of “The Nigerian Nightmare”, Usman. Usman, the 20-4 freestyle welterweight standout is correspondingly also the previous divisional champion, before Leon Edwards. Adesanya hopes these feats will increase though with him and Usman as inspiration. This is what he wrote, taking to X:

I like this thread. I can’t count how many Brazilians in the UFC, I’d guess there have been less than 10 Nigerians or a bit more in the UFC. I will tell you this, when Nigerians start to flood the UFC with what Kamaru and I have inspired…it’s GAME OVER‼️
Israel Adesanya on X
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The fighter prompted this in another vital tweet thread, enlisting Nigerian vs. Brazilian fighters in UFC. Anderson “The Spider” Silva, Rafael dos Anjos, Jose Aldo, Paulo Costa, Vitor Belfort, and Amanda Nunes are some such names. Even the 9-2-0 double-champion Alex Pereira falls in the list.

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Meanwhile, the Dagestani roster embiggens as well, as the MMA culture garners more traction worldwide. The roster of ruthless Combat Sambo practitioners includes – Ali Bagautinov, Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rashid Magomedov, Magomed Ankalaev, and others. Adesnaya hopes this will change.

Israel Adesanya met with fellow Nigerian Anthony Joshua ahead of boxing victory

Anthony Joshua and Otto Wallin recently squared off in the extended Riyadh Boxing Season, at the Kingdom Arena. The super boxing bout, under the DAZN PPV banner, saw the billing as ‘Day of Reckoning’. The former heavyweight overcame the Swedish peer in a spectacular performance, as he once again aspires for world title status. Israel Adesanya, along with others, was in attendance.

Israel Adesanya meets with Anthony Joshua, ahead of his victory
Israel Adesanya meets with Anthony Joshua, ahead of his victory (Source: Twitter)

“The Last Stylebender” recently grumbled at the lack of Nigerian talents in the UFC, as compared to other nationalities. The 27-3 two-time former unified world heavyweight Joshua persists by the standard but as a pro boxer.

Recently, Adesanya and Nigerian co-native Kamaru Usman were in attendance at the Riyadh Boxing Season opening ceremony as well. They even urged fellow African, ex-UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou to land the knockout finish against Tyson Fury.

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