The middleweight division has had its fair share of luminaries, but former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya stands out above the rest in terms of stardom. The two-time titleholder has been with the organization for a long time. After reclaiming the belt twice and successfully defending it multiple times, it’s time for ‘StyleBender’ to take the well-deserved break he’s earned. And during a recent Q&A session with his fans, the former middleweight champion revealed his plans post the UFC, and it seems like he might be ready for a family!

Israel Adesanya in a lively interaction with the fans and in his recent escapade, was asked by a curious fan about his plans after bidding adieu to the realm of combat sports, to which the former champ gave a pretty short but sweet answer. The͏͏ fighter͏͏ uploaded͏͏ a͏͏ cute͏͏ video͏͏ to͏͏ his͏͏ Instagram͏͏ story,͏͏ capturing͏͏ a͏͏ father-son͏͏ interaction.͏͏ Along͏͏ with͏͏ the͏͏ video,͏͏ he͏͏ posed͏͏ a͏͏ question,͏͏ then͏͏ offered͏͏ his͏͏ own͏͏ answer,͏͏ writing,͏͏ “Be͏͏ a͏͏ great͏͏ dad.” Although we have yet to see Izzy taking up the role of a father, he already has great plans for his kids when it comes to education.

Israel Adesanya didn’t have a typical childhood. Born in Nigeria, his family moved to New Zealand when Izzy was 10, probably because of his parents’ wish to provide him with a better education. While Adesanya did go to college for computer design, the combat sports career ultimately took precedence over an office job. Probably this shift has made him take a stance against conventional schooling.

The New Zealand native doesn’t believe in the traditional schooling approach. He believes that traditional teaching is outdated without any real exposure to the real world. In an interview clip that was doing rounds on social media last year, Izzy was heard to highlight his thoughts on education. He had clearly stated that whenever he has kids of his own, won’t be sending them into the public school system.

“I don’t even know why we still have this whole (expletive), just this outdated concept of school to just build workers. Because we know what the (expletive) school was made for. Why are we pretending? We know school was created to create workers,” Izzy had said.

“A lot of useless information passed on to me in school. And I sucked at school because I was (expletive) at memorizing. I didn’t really learn anything—dropouts, as we do…School doesn’t teach you much, honestly. It teaches you the basics. I understand math, yes, English, comprehension, all that kind of stuff. But when it come to social studies and algebra and calculus? I’m like, are you going to use those in the real world? So (expletive) school,” he had further added. So, will ‘Izzy’ teach his kids himself? Not exactly.

“My plan is, right, when I have kids, I’m going to have a tutor that’s going to teach them from the age—at home—from the time, say, maybe, 9am to mid-day or 1pm. And they’ll have an hour of homework, and the rest of the day we’ll just go on adventures doing (expletive),” Izzy had revealed. But there are a few things that will be an absolute must for Izzy’s children.

“But then, they’re going to do gymnastics, compulsory. Because I want to make sure they know their body; the foundation of athleticism, gymnastics, and Jiu Jitsu,” Izzy had stated. According to him, those will be the activities where his children will get the chance to interact with their peers to develop their social skills despite not going to school. He went up to the extent of saying, “No one’s teaching. Literally, some of these people are just there to cash a paycheck. I’ve seen it.” Commendable are his plans. But apart from the education aspect, Izzy probably has taken a cue from his father for being a supportive dad.

Israel’s father Femi Adesanya has done a great job in managing the former’s wealth single handedly. In fact, he serves as Israel’s accountant till date. It was Femi’s financial intelligence that imparted monetary responsibility in the UFC fighter. Speaking on the ‘Mighty Cast’ podcast on YouTube in April, the 35-year-old came out clearly about his father’s role in his life.

“Shout out to my dad because my dad has quadrupled my net worth…So my first UFC pay cheque, the first thing I bought was my house and then now we’ve grown the portfolio quite largely and that’s all thanks to my dad because he saw a vision,” Izzy had said. ‘Izzy‘ revealed that his father advised him to invest in a house rather than spend his entire “six-figure” savings lavishly after he earned a significant amount competing as a kickboxer in China.

Initially, a young Adesanya did not pay much attention to that. But, with time time, he had to come to terms to that idea. As he started listening to his father’s words, he has grown his wealth and thanks to his father and his wise words, he has now started a business. Israel has started a real estate business in New Zealand, ensuring that he doesn’t overspend his earnings and keeps an alternate income source.

“The idea is that after fighting, Israel needs to have something solid as investment. So, we decided that we were going to go for property development so that one, physically, he can see what he is putting together. And secondly, the investment can be protected,” Femi had said in a clip shared by ‘Punch’, a publishing outlet in March.

Well, even though ‘Stylebender’ is going strong with some great plans for his future, his love life is not as simple as his last relationship left him broken to his core.

The time when Israel Adesanya opened up about his relationship

Is the former middleweight champion in a running relationship? Well, the short answer to this question is a big no! Israel Adesanya has not been in a relationship for a long time now as he likes to keep his peace of mind with himself. His last relationship with his former flame, Charlotte Powdrell ended in such a manner that it might have rattled Adesanya to the core. His longtime girlfriend, Powdrell broke up with him back in 2020 when Adesanya was already struggling with depressive thoughts due to continuous fights.

In͏͏ addition,͏͏ Powdrell͏͏ sued͏͏ Adesanya͏͏ for͏͏ financial͏͏ support,͏͏ claiming͏͏ that͏͏ she͏͏ had͏͏ been͏͏ with͏͏ him͏͏ during͏͏ his͏͏ struggles͏͏ and͏͏ deserved͏͏ a͏͏ fair͏͏ share͏͏ of͏͏ his͏͏ earnings.͏͏ She͏͏ demanded͏͏ a͏͏ substantial͏͏ half͏͏ of͏͏ Adesanya’s͏͏ income͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ lawsuit. This has forced the former champion to make sure that he stays out of relationship troubles.

“My dream, for me, is to just attain peace. Attain peace. And that was a great quote by my friend, Jamie, rest in love. He always, that’s his quote, his slogan, ‘Attain peace.’ He’s like I’m going to train to attain peace. And even me. That’s why I’m single now. I like peace. I love peace in my life,” said Adesanya in an interview with the media.

Interestingly, Adesanya’s relationship troubles were so bad that even Sean O’Malley came forward to address it, “Izzy’s ex-girlfriend, they’re not married, right, wants half of his earnings. It’s hard to say, maybe they were together for many years, and she supported him in various ways, but wanting half seems unreasonable.”

The former two-times middleweight champion might stay away from the relationship before announcing his wedding altogether. Regardless, what’s your take on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.