Before His Explosive Rise, UFC Champ Israel Adesanya Reveals the Real Reason Chinese Promotion Signed Him: “I Wasn’t Brought There to Be Long”

The current UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, is one of the top fighters in the UFC. After winning his championship back from Alex Pereira at UFC 287, Adesanya has cemented his position among the top fighters in the UFC. Success didn’t come to Adesanya easily; he had to face a lot of “crazy” times to be where he is today. Before becoming one of the most successful fighters in the UFC, ‘The Last Stylebender’ was a kickboxer in the regional scene in China. Adesanya believes that was one of the toughest phases of his life, where he had to fight nearly 24 fights in 10–11 months.

Moreover, he had to face a lot of hardships as a foreign fighter. The middleweight champion recently recalled how China wanted foreign fighters for their people to beat them. Nonetheless, Adesanya was too strong for them.

Israel Adesanya talks about his experience in China

Three weeks ago, ‘The Last Stylebender’ was talking in an interview with Emilio Urrutia. Urrutia is a ONE Championship veteran and retired MMA fighter. The duo talked a lot about MMA. During their conversation, Adesanya detailed about his time in China. The Nigerian fighter said, “I think I had in 11 months 10 months I think I had 24 fights, yeah. There was one month I fought four times and had three knockouts. It was crazy, and they weren’t, look I wasn’t brought there to be long or whatever they brought me over there to be a journeyman for their people to beat up, that’s what.“

Talking on the same topic, he further added, “But they realise they can’t f*ck with this guy. So they signed me on the team, gave me think the biggest contract for foreign fighter they’ve given and yeah it was a good time.” Adesanya detailed how a foreign fighter is treated in China and the hardships he had to face. However, his passion for the sport kept him going even in the most hostile situations.

What’s next for ‘The Last Stylebender’

Things are a lot different options for Adesanya now. At present, Adesanya mostly fights three to four times a year and earns millions for these fights. After having a glorious knockout victory against Pereira, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has made it clear that he is not interested in facing ‘Poatan’ for a fifth time.

READ MORE: “Had Me Questioning Our Reality”: Israel Adesanya Reveals His Take on Oscar-Winning ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

After the bout between Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 comes to an end, Adesanya will fight the winner among the two. The fans need to wait to find out about Adesanya’s future fights.

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