Israel Adesanya had shocked the entire fight fanbase after he dyed his hair pink a few days before UFC 253. Netizens had trolled the middleweight champion for his surprise-stint, but ‘Izzy’ never paid much attention to his haters. He kept flaunting his hair color in several public appearances.

However, he didn’t keep the style for fight day. The ‘Last Stylebender’ showcased his usual outlook tonight and put on a clinical war to knockout Paulo Costa. After defending his belt, Israel Adesanya revealed why he colored his hair pink before the fight.

Israel Adesanya needed a pointer for Paulo Costa

In the post-fight press conference, Adesanya revealed that he followed his father’s instructions to go for the pink hair. Now Adesanya is a fighter who knows how to get hold of his opponent’s nerves, verbally or physically. That said, Adesanya said that his father wanted him to blind Costa out with a jab.

Adesanya said, “My dad, shout out to Oluwa Femi, the big dog, big fam dog, Dadesanya said I am going to blind him. I am gonna blind him with my jab and when he is compromised with one eye, I will take the other eye out.”

Thus, he needed to sport the pink hair to send a cheeky clue to Costa. As per Adesanya, the pink could have worked as a decoder in the future, something Costa would only realize in retrospect.

Israel further elaborated on what “Dadesanya” suggested.

“If he sees a pink hue. He will still know, he will know where my head is. He will know, okay, that’s where my head is and he will just aim for the pink hue.

“So I was like you are right and like a good boy, I listened to my dad. He is a smart man.”

Completing his second successful title defense and ninth consecutive win in the UFC, Adesanya is one of the looming middleweight right now. He has cleared off almost half of the roster. Meanwhile, several new challenges are emerging in prospects like Khamzat Chimaev. Thus, the upcoming middleweight appears intense. However,  Adesanya is still the king of the 185 lbs unit.