Ah yes, Israel Adesanya‘s identity – a big talking point among MMA and fight fans. A topic, so contentious, that middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis used it as fodder to go after ‘The Last Stylebender’, claiming he wasn’t a “real African”. Why, all the drama? Well, perhaps because Adesanya is one of the few (if not only) fighters to have represented three different countries in the Octagon/ring. Yes, the Nigerian-born Kiwi has represented his native country Nigeria, his adopted home New Zealand – and even the Chinese flag during his kickboxing days.

While he’s been trolled massively for representing the East Asian country, he wasn’t shy about it as China embraced him as ‘The Black Dragon’. But presently ‘The Last Stylebender’ embraces both his native and adopted heritages. So what exactly is Israel Adesanya‘s nationality? Let’s take a closer look.

Israel Adesanya’s birthplace and early life

‘The Last Stylebender’ was born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father, Femi Adesanya, worked as an accountant, while his mother, Taiwo Adesanya, worked as a nurse. Being the oldest of five siblings in an upper-class family, Adesanya spoke Yoruba. He attended primary school at Opebi’s Chrisland School in Ikeja, Lagos. It was there that he had his first stint with martial arts, in the school’s Taekwondo club. However, his mother removed him from those classes due to an injury. However, he had to move to Ghana when he was just 10 years old. And later they moved to New Zealand.

Around the same time, in 1999, his parents wanted to relocate to the West in search of better education for the children. They first relocated to Ghana for about 11 months, before finding their home in Rotorua, New Zealand. Incidentally, Israel Adesanya wasn’t interested in sports as a high-schooler at Rotorua Boys’ High School, instead spending his time watching anime. ‘The Last Stylebender’ also faced a lot of bullying in school, which would later fuel his martial arts journey. But it was after watching the movie Ong-Bak, that he decided to dive fully into the world of Muay Thai.

After two years of training, he dropped out of his Bachelor of Computer Design course from the Universal College of Learning in Whanganui, to pursue a full-time career in combat sports. The rest, as they say, is history – resulting in kickboxing championship titles, and mixed martial arts glory.

Currently, Adesanya lives in Auckland, New Zealand, and trains at the famed City Kickboxing gym, under the watchful eyes of Eugene Bareman. But Adesanya proudly advertises his African heritage, often putting himself alongside fighters like Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou as true African champions. Of course, Dricus Du Plessis took issue with that, and proclaimed him as the “true African champion”, which opened a can of worms between him and ‘The Last Stylebender’ – and culminated in a fight where ‘The Last Stylebender’ lost his first MMA bout via submission. Regardless, there is a pressing question that needs answering – does Israel Adesanya hold dual citizenship?

Why did Adesanya move to New Zealand? Is he a dual citizen?

Well, Adesanya indeed holds dual citizenship. His parents moved from Lagos to New Zealand to provide ‘The Last Stylebender’ and his siblings with a better life, citing the value of Western education. During an interview with Steven Barlett, in an episode of The Diary of a CEO from 2022, the former 2-time middleweight champion revealed, “When I’m in New Zealand, sometimes I’ll be talking to a cab driver and I find out that he was a medical doctor back in Sri Lanka, or back in India, and then moved over to NZ or the ‘western world’ for a ‘better life’, and their qualifications aren’t recognized in the western world.”

Adesanya’s folks were quick to recognize the value of Western education. While Adesanya did not end up completing his higher studies, the country of New Zealand gave him the opportunity to become a world-class fighter and global superstar. “The Last Stylebender’ is multilingual too, finding success as an English-speaking individual, but also fluent in Yoruba and Nigerian Pidgin.

Now, post his championship reign, Adesanya has to bounce back from two straight losses against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night 250. This will probably be one of the last chances the Nigeria-born fighter will have to trace his way back into the title picture. Do you think ‘The Last Stylebender’ can redeem himself and get back into the title picture? Or will the French-Dagestani Imavov emerge victorious at UFC Riyadh? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.