Israel Adesanya revealed some insight into a now-viral confrontation he had with a random man on the streets of Auckland.
Last month, a video made the rounds on social media that showed the former two-time middleweight world champion in a heated exchange with an unidentified man on a street corner. Though things escalated quickly with obscenities and racial slurs reportedly being flung, things never got physical between the two.
Some guy tried to start some shit with Izzy pic.twitter.com/Hkw3zMA0dY
— Dovy
(@DovySimuMMA) September 5, 2024
(@DovySimuMMA)
During a recent appearance on The Adam Carolla Show, Adesanya recounted the incident and revealed why he chose not to engage with the man outside of throwing a few verbal jabs.
“When he pulled up in front of the car, I was just like, ‘Okay, if this guy breaches my [space], then I have to attack him,’” Adesanya said. “But I had a good day; I was in a good mental space, and I gave him a lot of grace because one of our teammates, Fau Vake, got killed by senseless street violence. He got coward-punched by a d*ckhead, and he’s dead now. So in the moment, I knew if I hit this guy, he’s going to hit his head because it’s a sloped street. He’s going to fall down, hit his head on the concrete, and probably bleed out.”
Adesanya added, ”I was like, what the f**k, and I was laughing, so I think me laughing kind of p*ssed him off. Then him flexing and all that—look, within an hour I found out where he lived. It’s my city, but again, I think Karma will get him” (h/t MMA News).
According to a report from NZ Herald, Four men attacked brothers Fau and Ika Vake in Auckland’s central business district in the early morning hours of May 16, 2021. Fau Vake was punched in the face during the altercation which caused him to fall backward and hit his head on the concrete. He died from a brain bleed nine days later.
Israel Adesanya Eyes Late 2024/early 2025 return
After being one of the most dominant middleweights in UFC history, ‘The Last Stylebender’ finds himself in a tough spot after losing three of his last four inside the Octagon. In his most recent outing, Adesanya suffered a fourth-round submission defeat at the hands of reigning 185-pound titleholder Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305.
Adesanya is confident that he’ll get another shot at ‘DDP’ in the future, but he knows he’ll likely have to go out and win one or two before earning a rematch. As for when he plans to get back inside the cage, the ‘Stylebender’ is already eyeing a late 2024 or early 2025 return.
“Yeah, of course,” he said of fighting Du Plessis again. “That’ll come later on. But you know, right now, after I just fought [Dricus], I don’t think it’s gonna be immediately. I’d rather just fight, not really for the belt, just fight for fighting sake.”
“I’m still Israel. I’ll let them call me out or whatever. At the moment, I wanna fight one more time before the end of this year or early next year, but I don’t know yet. I’m just training, building off where we left off, and I’ll get the call at some point with a with a few options. I’m sure Dana will hit me up at some point.”
Three of the four suspects in New Zealand MMA fighter Fau Vake’s death have now admitted guilt after further investigation into the case. Vake, who was a regular member of the City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, was murdered by a group of men last May while out with his brother late at night. Daniel Havili […]
Fau Vake, a training partner of Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, has tragically passed away aged 25. City Kickboxing confirmed Vake’s death in a statement to The New Zealand Herald. “It is with inexplicable sadness almost seven days to the hour after his hospital admission, Fau’s fight to find his way back to us ended,” […]