There’s hardly any doubt Israel Adesanya is one of, if not the greatest fighter of the current era. The Nigerian-born Kiwi star is the only 2-time UFC middleweight champion, with five title defenses under his belt. Hence, with stardom comes boatloads of money, and that’s what we’re going to take a look at today.

This weekend will be Israel Adesanya’s biggest chance of etching his name in the promotion’s history books. He could join the legendary Randy Couture, becoming the second UFC fighter to win a divisional title three times, if he beats Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305. Meanwhile, let us take a look at how Adesanya’s stardom has fattened up his bank account.

How much does Israel Adesanya get paid?

Israel Adesanya belongs to the cream of the crop in the UFC, and understandably, he’ll be on the top of the food chain when it comes to earning money from his fights. The former champion has had some of the most legendary and talked-about fights, and through his UFC run, his been able to reportedly increase his net worth to around $8 to $10 million.

As for his payouts, Israel Adesanya made the most bag when he fought reigning light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira. ‘Izzy’ took home reported sums of $2.6 million and $2.8 million for his UFC 281 and UFC 287 fights, respectively. In fact, ever since the turn of this decade, Adesanya’s payout has never dropped down to less than $1 million.

Having learned about his previous payouts, we can estimate that Israel Adesanya could be taking home $2-3 million against Dricus du Plessis. But also, his bank account’s going to get bumped up by his sponsors as well, which brings us to our next focus – Adesanya’s sponsorship and endorsement deals.

Adesanya’s Puma, Stake, Prime, and other sponsorships

‘The Last Stylebender’ hasn’t just made history inside the Octagon, but outside of it as well. When he signed to become a brand ambassador for Stake.com in 2021, he snatched the tag of becoming the first UFC fighter to ever do so. One of his most talk-about sponsors is the hydration brand called PRIME, made popular by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI. ‘Izzy’ was one of the two first official PRIME athletes alongside Alexander Volkanovski.

Israel Adesanya also started his own brand of fight apparel, known as Engage, in partnership with his manager, Ash Belcastro. But the buck doesn’t stop there, because he also signed a multi-year deal with sports apparel giants Puma, back in 2020. Unfortunately, there was one particular partnership that ended in a controversial way.

‘Stylebender’ dropped by BMW because of a controversial comment

One of the biggest automobile brands, BMW, has stood the test of time as one of the biggest and best vehicle manufacturers in the world, and owning a top BMW bike or a car is the stuff of dreams for many. Keeping that in mind, New Zealand’s biggest sporting export, Israel Adesanya, got the honor of becoming the face of BMW in New Zealand. However, some of his incendiary comments before his fight against Kevin Holland in 2021 cost him that deal before it was in place.

The German automobile giants took Israel Adesanya’s comments pretty seriously and ended their relationship with the former champion, scrapping the idea of making ‘Izzy’ the face of BMW New Zealand. “Due to the comments made by an athlete online, we have reviewed our pending association with said athlete and we have decided not to push forward with a specific ambassador for the brand at this time in New Zealand,” BMW said.

In his apology statement, Adesanya said, “Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line. I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention. I am still to growing under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be more selective with words under pressure.”

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