“It’s Anime Ariel Don’t Disrespect”- Israel Adesanya Reacts as Max Holloway and Fans Stun Ariel Helwani for “Disrespectful” Take On Anime

In the MMA world, it’s not just the UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, who holds a deep appreciation for anime. Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway shares the passion. Presently, Holloway is just hours away from his upcoming bout against Chan Sung Jung at UFC Fight Night 225. The bout will take place at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang. Ahead of his bout, renowned Canadian-American journalist Ariel Helwani posted a video of him having a debate with Holloway about anime.

Helwani called anime a cartoon, and Holloway was not ready to accept how the MMA journalist looked at it. He even warned that if Adesanya had been there with them, he would have made Helwani understand what it was all about. Surprisingly, Adesanya actually happened to listen to the conversation between the two. Let’s delve into how ‘The Last Stylebender’ reacted to this intriguing conversation.

Israel Adesanya reacts to the debate between Max Holloway and Ariel Helwani

The MMA journalist Ariel Helwani sat with Holloway on his show, The MMA Hour. During their chat, Helwani and Holloway fell into a debate about anime. When ‘Blessed’ talked about the anime that he is currently watching, Helwani asked if it was “cartoon stuff.” He also asked if it’s insulting to call an anime a cartoon, to which Holloway said, “Very insulting, imagine if style was here… Animation that’s the difference. You are gonna be p**sing off a lot of people.“

After listening to Holloway’s remarks, the MMA journalist compared anime to pro wrestling. He said, “That’s like someone saying to me that pro wrestling is fake. Is that the same thing?” Max Holloway replied, “Yeah, almost cause… I just like I would say pro wrestling is fake. It’s insulting. Cause it’s just a scripted winner, but these guys are putting their bodies on the like. They are athletes.”

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

Helwani posted their conversation on Instagram, and Israel Adesanya came across it. The UFC middleweight champion later shared the video on his Instagram story. However, fans had a different reaction on the matter. They called out Helwani for being disrespectful to anime.

Fans react to Helwani’s claim

Most of the fans lashed out at Ariel Helwani for calling anime a cartoon. According to them, he lacks knowledge about what it actually is. One fan even claimed that if Adesanya listens to what Helwani is saying, the UFC champ might even chop him.

• “That’s disrespectful.. anime is anime, cartoon is the running off the cliff and delay fall.”
• “It’s anime Ariel don’t disrespect”
• “Ariel you best show some respect to the weebs before @stylebender comes and actually chops you haha”
• “No it’s not cartoon, how dare you”

One of the fans was way too happy when Holloway took the name of the anime, ‘Tokyo Revengers.’ Another fan claimed that he started loving Holloway more after learning about his love for the anime. Contrary to the majority, one fan pointed out how Ariel unnecessarily dragged pro wrestling into their debate.

• “You don’t understand Ariel I’m glad Max is goin to put Tokyo revengers on the map this anime is so underrated”
• “I love u even more now Max u are going to win tonight!!!!”
• “Ariel will say that and then change his tune and start pumping up pro wrestling”

From the reactions of the fans, it is clear that they were angry with Helwani for calling anime a cartoon. Some of the fans were elated to find out that ‘Blessed’ was an anime fan similar to them. It seems that there are a lot of UFC fans who love Adesanya and Holloway because they are anime fans as well. What are your thoughts about the debate between Helwani and Holloway? Let us know in the comments below.

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