The Minnesota Twins are continuing their unbeaten start to the season. Armed with a solid roster, today’s game saw them brutally beat the Miami Marlins 11-1. And although the latter was defeated, the team called in the big guns for some good luck. UFC superstar Israel Adesanya made an appearance at the game in a rather empty stadium. But he wasn’t deterred – he threw out the first pitch with gusto.

The Last Stylebender, as fans call him, is one of the top mixed martial artists in the world and ranks first in the UFC middleweight rankings, as of 2022. While he’s talented at multiple sports, including boxing and kickboxing, this is the 33-year-old’s first foray into baseball. The New Zealand player recently arrived in the USA ahead of his much-awaited rematch with Alex Pereira. But before that, loanDepot Park was Adesanya’s first stop.

Israel Adesanya throws out the first ceremonial pitch

The fighter posted a series of pictures and videos to his Instagram, taking his whopping 7.1 million followers through his baseball journey. From practicing throwing the ball to a video of the stadium, social media covered it all. Adesanya shared pictures of himself posing with fans and the moments that led up to throwing that ball.

When the time to pitch finally came, the fighter, who wore an unbuttoned Marlins shirt over shorts, “Threw the first pitch…didn’t miss!” This was what his story caption read.

READ MORE – The Lesser Known Journey of Israel Adesanya Before UFC

In later pictures, Adesanya even got involved in a stand-off with the Miami team’s mascot, Billy the Marlin. The Kiwi took up his classic fighting stance against Billy in one picture, while the duo stood back to back in another. While here his posture saw him use both hands, Adesanya has famously taken up the stance of a popular anime character before.

Adesanya has quite the connection to Naruto

The man’s profile picture across social media is Gaara of the Desert – what more needs to be said? Adesanya has previously stated how anime has had a huge influence on him, particularly Naruto. The 33-year-old is especially popular for taking up the stance of Rock Lee during his own fights. Lee is a fighting specialist like him and is a master of what the show calls taijutsu. Adesanya, too, is multi-talented at various types of fighting.

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As for baseball, although the Marlins lost, fans are hopeful that they will see the UFC champ at future games. His next fight with Pereira is now on April 9th.