Adesanya will ‘definitely’ compete in WWE, admits he was ‘starstruck’ by The Rock

Israel Adesanya exits the cage following his unanimous decision win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 in Houston, Texas. | Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Israel Adesanya wants to compete in WWE before he retires fro…


UFC 271: Adesanya v Whittaker 2
Israel Adesanya exits the cage following his unanimous decision win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 in Houston, Texas. | Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Israel Adesanya wants to compete in WWE before he retires from MMA.

Israel Adesanya isn’t giving up on his dream of one day flying from the rope in the WWE, revealing to talkSPORT his intention of competing in the world of professional wrestling before he calls it quits on his UFC career.

“I looked up to those guys as a kid. I used to jump off the couch armrest and backflip onto David [his camera guy],” Adesanya, the reigning UFC middleweight champion, said.

“I broke my arm a couple of times. We was taking bumps back in the day [laughs]. But definitely I will do that before I’m done.

“You might just see me sneak up from under the ring one day like ‘what the f***!’ That’s not Hornswoggle!’

‘The Last Stylebender’ is also a huge fan of The Rock and admits to being starstruck by the WWE superstar when he first met him.

“The Rock, that will take a few meetings to go away. I still get starstruck by him, but I’m cool. I’m not going to like jump him or anything,” Adesanya said.

“Even with Joe Rogan, when I first met Joe I was starstruck. It probably took two or three interactions until you humanise them to you.

“But The Rock will take a while to go away because it’s still The Rock!”

Adesanya was last seen in action this past month at UFC 271 where he defeated Robert Whittaker to retain his middleweight title. He won the fight via unanimous decision and moved up to #2 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.