After David Onama Copies Him at UFC Jacksonville, Israel Adesanya Reveals African Heritage Behind Arrow Celebration

UFC middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya is someone who loves to stay close to his African roots. Even after achieving outstanding success in his fighting career, ‘Stylebender’ is someone who often speaks highly about his African heritage. He makes sure that he reminds people about the greatness of his roots through his actions.

At UFC 287, the Nigerian fighter was able to achieve the biggest victory of his fighting career. He won against his longtime rival Alex Pereira and earned his UFC middleweight championship back from the mighty ‘Poatan’. Something that grabbed a lot of attention for Adesanya was his post-fight octagon celebrations.

As Pereira fell to the ground after the brutal knockout, ‘Stylebender’ acted like he was shooting three arrows at Pereira. He pulled out the act by imagining there was a bow and arrow in his hands. Now, another fighter had imitated the exact actions of Adesanya. The fighter is none other than David Omana, who won a spectacular victory against Gabriel Santos at UFC Jacksonville. After coming across his celebration, Adesanya himself came forward to mention the reason behind the arrow celebration.

Israel Adesanya reveals his African heritage

Soon after winning the bout at UFC on ABC 5, Onama imitated the “archer” celebration of ‘Stylebender.’ Later, the Ugandan fighter took to his Instagram handle to post a picture of himself in the archer position. Along with the post he wrote, “Inspired by @stylebender.” When the UFC middleweight champion came across the post, he was way too happy and commented with a few heart emojis under the post. Later, Adesanya shared the post on his Instagram story.

‘Stylebender’ was not done with this. He made sure that his followers knew the reason behind the archer-like celebration. Adesanya took to his Instagram story and posted a black-and-white image of an African in old African attire shooting with an original bow and arrow. Along with the image, he wrote, “Back to our roots,” signifying the relevance of the archer celebration.

But how exactly did the fight between Onama and Santos transpire?

What happened between David Onama and Gabriel Santos?

 David Onama has a record of eleven victories and two losses. In the promotion before fighting against Gabriel Santos, his record stood at two victories and two losses. Hence, it was important for ‘Silent Assassin’ to win the bout, as it would help him cement his position in the world’s biggest MMA promotion. When the bout began, many felt that Onama was struggling to dominate the Brazilian fighter. In the first round, Santos displayed amazing strikes.

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This made fans believe that ‘Silent Assassin’ was going to lose in front of ‘Mosquitinho.’ The first round of the bout came to an end with both fighters struggling to dominate each other. When the bout reached the second round, it turned completely in favor of Onama. He won the bout four minutes and thirteen seconds into the second round via knockout.

What do you make of the interaction between Onama and Adesanya? Let us know in the comments section below.

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