Israel Adesanya was involved in a so-called road rage incident. ‘So-called’ because despite how the incident was characterized online, it looked a far cry from road rage. The latter, of course, usually involves a person getting into an altercation while driving. But, instead, from the clip doing the rounds, it seems a guy walked up to ‘Izzy’ and tried to start a confrontation of his own accord.

And former UFC champion and commentator Michael Bisping thinks that the whole thing was a set-up. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Englishman felt that the whole reason Adesanya wants to press charges is because he wants to prove to the world that he wasn’t in the wrong. Bisping pointed out that the belligerent guy seemingly approached the UFC superstar unprovoked and did his best to inflame ‘Izzy’ by allegedly hurling racial slurs at him, something that Adesanya is extremely touchy about.

“I mean Israel Adesanya, just yesterday, he got caught in a road rage incident. Apparently [he’s] pressing charges against the guy, he’s probably doing that to kind of clear his name in some way because it was a nasty affair. Apparently the guy pulled over, got out of the car, started shouting at Izzy shouting all kinds of racial slurs and stuff like that. Izzy got out of the car, the two of them, they had a confrontation. The guy was putting his hands up like this [in a flexing stance]. That guy knew exactly who Israel Adesanya was,” he said.

This, the UFC commentator felt, was clearly done to try and bait Adesanya into possibly hitting him, so the guy could sue ‘Izzy’ in the future. Of course, as Bisping points out, this sort of thing is not uncommon since it is one of the easiest ways to make money quickly. “He was probably doing it to goad him on to maybe sue him down the line because that’s just the state of the world we living and there is truly a bunch of pu—-s out there that will do that,” Bisping added.

And this is exactly what Bisping’s fellow former superstar and analyst Chael Sonnen‘s take is on the topic, with the latter pointing out some more aspects that made the whole thing seem quite fishy.

Chael Sonnen agrees with Michael Bisping’s take on Israel Adesanya ‘road rage’

UFC analyst extraordinaire Chael Sonnen too, feels that the Adesanya incident was a set-up. ‘Uncle Chael’ pointed out on his own YouTube channel how the whole interaction was mischaracterized as road rage. Not to mention the guy filming conveniently didn’t get the guy’s face in the frame and then uploaded the video with the aforementioned mischaracterization both of which rang alarm bells for the UFC analyst.

‘Uncle Chael’ felt that the way it went down made it seem like the cameraman and the belligerent guy were in cahoots, hoping to catch ‘Izzy’ hit the guy and use it in a lawsuit. On the other hand, the former UFC star felt that Adesanya, by not taking the bait, “was perfect” in how he handled the situation and tried “diffusing the moment” as best as he could.

The racial abuse, of course, would have come as especially incendiary to the Kiwi-Nigerian, who was bullied relentlessly as a child for the color of his skin. But if what Bisping and Sonnen have theorized is true Adesanya’s remarkable restraint may have saved him a lot of money — not only in a possible settlement or damage, but also in lawyer fees. Do you agree with the two UFC analysts’ take on Adesanya’s ‘road rage’ incident?