“They Wanna Die for a F***Ing Photo”: Israel Adesanya on Fame

Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya is one of the fastest-growing stars in the UFC. The Kiwi has accomplished a lot within a short time.

Back in 2018, Israel Adesanya made his debut against Rob Wilkinson. Since then, he has wrecked everyone that has stood in his way. Within 2 years, Adesanya made it to the summit. He beat then middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker in the second round to become the new undisputed middleweight champion.

Stylebender is on an 18 fight win streak, 7 of them are in the UFC. Many of his fights ended in spectacular KO’s. Having the style that he has, makes it more pleasing for the audience to watch him. It boosted his popularity immensely.

However, fame and popularity come with its downsides. Recently, Adesanya gave an inside look of his life.

Israel Adesanya speaks out on fame

On ESPN’s Ariel Helwani’s MMA show, Adesanya said that he gets both, love as well as hate from the fans. But Adesanya said that he feels more love than hate from people.

“I have to move now. People know where I live. It was good when I had my first UFC fight but now I need my nearest neighbour to be a kilometre down the road.”

It is true that if a fighter is more popular, he is likely to get paid more than the others. But, it does come with its cons. Adesanya believes that he is prepared for it as he has signed up for it. He did say that sometimes it gets taxing.

Adesanya said, “I am not as excited to see you as you are excited to see me sometimes. And that’s okay. I’m human too. I might be having a bad day.”

He then continued to talk about an incident about a man who tried to make him talk on a cellphone at a gas station.

“People don’t give a f**k. They wanna die for a f***ing photo.”

Adesanya will fight Yoel Romero this Saturday at UFC 248. Romero is a tough challenge for Adesanya. He is a freak athlete who very few people want to fight. If Adesanya conquers Romero, his popularity will rise even more.

This can lead to even more people wanting to interact with the champion.

How well do you think Israel Adesanya handles the fame?