Israel Adesanya‘s trip back to his High School was, well, melancholic. ‘Izzy’ was born in Nigeria, but was sent abroad to study in New Zealand by his parents shortly after his tenth birthday. There, the Yoruba found out the uglier side of life and understood what discrimination and racism are. It was there that he also started fighting for the first time in his life, albeit unwillingly and under duress. And that led to him undergoing an experience that would scar him for the rest of his life, and affect him even after he became a martial arts champ.

Among the things Israel Adesanya found out when he was in school was that he was black. Unfortunately, this was because he was bullied regularly and incessantly over the color of his skin and his African heritage. The worst experiences he had, however, were in his Rotorua Boys’ High School. In his 2023 documentary titled ‘Stylebender’, the UFC middleweight looked back upon his time in the school, and the nightmarish experiences he had there.

One by one, ‘Izzy’ walked through his school, recalling one traumatizing incident after another. Perhaps the most horrific experience ‘Izzy’ had, however, came about after he stood up for himself and fought a bigger kid who was picking on him. The next day, when he was in the washroom, he was ambushed by two bigger kids. By this time, the Nigerian native was used to being bullied, but this experience shook him up.

“I had a fight with another kid over here one time, I remember this hallway. Next day I had my lips like this (swollen). I got beat up. It was two kids bigger than me, and they grabbed me. I’m screaming, I was terrified. Oh, and the urinal’s blocked, filled with pi**, and they were gonna dunk me in it,” he said.

A visibly emotional ‘Stylebender’ recalled that at that moment, he resolved that he wouldn’t let that happen to him. And indeed, try as they might, the bullies couldn’t get Adesanya to move, which surprised even ‘Izzy’ himself. So traumatized was the former middleweight champ at the experience that it still bothered him all those decades later.

“And I remember I wasn’t gonna be moved. I don’t where I got the strength from, but they could not dunk me in that sh**. And I broke away or I ran away and I remember crying and sobbing hysterically. It was like, it was horrible, it was horrific. And I don’t know what the point was. What do you do? You dunk a kid in pi** and then what? Like my brain can’t [process it]. I don’t know, I can’t find that funny,” he added.

It is these experiences that make ‘Izzy’s next fight so consequential for him.

Israel Adesanya to face Dricus Du Plessis in a grudge match with personal stakes

Israel Adesanya’s next fight will be personal. The former champ will fight the reigning champ, Dricus Du Plessis, with whom he is involved in a heated feud. Adesanya, who was bullied because of the color of his skin, and him being African, feels outraged over comments ‘DDP’ made which ‘Izzy’ feels questioned his African heritage.

The South African, in an interview last year, had claimed he would be the ‘first’ UFC champ to bring the belt to Africa, despite Francis Ngannou (Cameroonian), Kamaru Usman (Nigerian), and Israel Adesanya having been UFC champions. ‘DDP’ pointed out that none of the other fighters, including Adesanya, who lives in New Zealand, actually lived, trained, and had their gym and coaches in Africa as he did.

‘Izzy’ feels this is a very tone-deaf comment, pointing out that the countries he, Usman, and Ngannou are from are more impoverished and have far fewer opportunities and infrastructure (even MMA infrastructure) than ‘DDP’s native South Africa. Their feud has also taken on some very loaded and uncomfortable undertones, with ‘Izzy’ feeling that the champ’s comments indicate he has a “colonial mindset.”

In short, Adesanya thinks not only that ‘DDP’s comments are wrong, but are based upon a worldview that was inherently discriminatory and unfair to people like him. Du Plessis, it should be noted, has been very clear that he in no way wanted to question anyone, let alone Adesanya’s African heritage. He asserts that he is just speaking facts as they are.

This, needless to say, has engendered a very real and palpable enmity between the two men. Fortunately, they will have the chance to resolve their bad blood this Saturday on the top of UFC 305. Their fight has been in the making since last year when the whole ‘real African champion’ controversy started, and Du Plessis doubling down on the comments has only made the stakes even higher. especially for Adesanya.

What are your predictions for UFC 305? Let us know in the comments below.