Israel Adesanya Hopes His New Deal and Francis Ngannou’s Case Helps Lift Other UFC Fighters Up

Israel Adesanya is coming off a successful title defense at UFC 271. He took on a game, Robert Whittaker, in a rematch, and even though it was not a classic Adesanya performance, he got the job done. He won the fight via a unanimous decision.

This was, however, not the only great news that the champ got this past week. He also signed a new ‘lucrative deal’ with the UFC which will make him one of the top paid athletes in the history of mixed martial arts. There were talks that the promotion gave him this deal because of the Francis Ngannou contract issue. However, ‘The Last Stylebender’ dismissed those claims and said his dealings with them are separate and this new deal will help life other UFC fighters.

He said, “I signed this bout agreement on Monday. I don’t know this narrative, they just gave me a new deal because of what was happening with Francis. I’m like no. My dealings with the UFC don’t need to be brought forth, because every case is different. In Francis’s case, he needed to bring that forward, because it was atrocious and I respect him for that.”

“This is the first step… Honestly, rising tides lift all the ships and with this, I feel like it is the first step in this trickle-down effect, the rest of the fighters and lifting everyone up.”

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“I’m not saying pay debutants some crazy money. I’m just saying pay them enough to be able to train, feed their family and not have a second or third job.”

Israel Adesanya freaked out after seeing Booker T

After he got the win at UFC 271 against Whittaker, Adesanya was taken aback. During the post-fight media scrum, the champion spotted someone that made him mark out.

The UFC middleweight champion was surprised to see the former five-time WCW Champion, Booker T, amongst the media. He couldn’t hold his excitement back and imitated the WCW and WWE legend.

He admitted to freaking out and answered the former professional wrestler’s question.

WATCH THIS STORY – Event Recap: Best Fights From UFC 271: Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2

It is rare to see top athletes freak out and get excited the way Adesanya did, and must be something new for the fans to see. Adesanya will have some time off after this fight, but his next challenger is already decided. And there won’t be much gap between this fight and the next fight he has.