Israel Adesanya may be on a three-fight losing skid, but he has never let his failures affect the way he treats his teammates. The former 2-time middleweight champion is a genuine team player, as his teammate, Kai Kara-France, recently revealed a pivotal role ‘The Last Stylebender’ played in his career. It appears that ‘Don’t Blink’ is only in the UFC because of Adesanya.

Ahead of his UFC 317 co-main event title fight against Alexandre Pantoja, Kai Kara-France made a heartwarming revelation about how Israel Adesanya gave him the biggest “surprise” of his life. As we all know, he’s been training with the former 2-time champion for a long time. Ahead of one of his fights, Adesanya wanted to thank everybody who had helped him train ahead of one of his previous fights, and that’s when Kara-France claims the surprise took place.

‘The Last Stylebender’ claimed that he wanted to thank his team with a video package. As soon as he turned on the TV in the gym during that particular day of training, Kai Kara-France was taken aback. Instead of Adesanya thanking the team, it was UFC CEO Dana White, and according to the flyweight star, the 55-year-old announced to ‘Dont Blink’ that he was signed to the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“Izzy surprised me. Izzy, I remember, he just fought in the UFC… He just had two fights in the UFC, and it wasn’t like I’m familiar [to him], doing, like a ‘thank you’ favor for helping out in his camps,” Kai Kara-France told Demetrious Johnson on the latter’s YouTube channel. “At training one night, there was a TV on the mats, and then Izzy’s like, ‘I’m just gonna put a video to say thank you to everyone.’ And Dana White popped up, and then he said my name. And then he said, ‘Kai, you’re finally in the UFC.'”

Kai Kara-France couldn’t appear thankful enough for the role Israel Adesanya played to get the word across to Dana White. But as we all know, the flyweight star was a part of the 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter. However, he could not win the tournament, and because of that, the UFC CEO didn’t feel as if Kara-France was ready. But the 32-year-old claims Adesanya insisted on getting him signed, and voila, he’s now a top flyweight in White’s promotion and is worth around $1 million.

“It was a cool moment, you know. Izzy helped me… helped me get that deal across the table. I remember him meeting Dana, and Izzy was saying, ‘We need to get Kai in the UFC.’ [Dana White said], ‘We’ll get him on the Contender’s [Series]… [Izzy] said, ‘No, he’s already done The Ultimate Fighter. He’s ready,'” Kai Kara-France added.

Well, Kai Kara-France has come a long way in the MMA world. It’s the challenges and adventures that shaped him into becoming one of the best 125ers in the promotion. But did you know that one of those challenges and adventures involved ‘Don’t Blink’ fighting on a cruise ship? Here’s what we know.

Kai Kara-France used to fight on a cruise ship

Before entering into the bright lights of the UFC, Kai Kara-France was competing in the local, regional scene, making a name for himself as he increased his credibility with each passing fight. But in his “first international fight,” the flyweight star fought on a cruise ship in Phuket, Thailand. The boat wasn’t going anywhere, so the chances of getting hurt or sick were out of the question. While that was a unique experience for Kara-France, he also found it quite hilarious.

“So it was the first international fight ever on a cruise ship. It wasn’t moving, so you don’t have to worry about getting boat sick and falling off. But the cruise ship came from Malaysia to Phuket overnight. And then the fights were in Phuket, Thailand,” Kai Kara-France told ‘ESPN’. “So all my teammates got to come on the cruise ship and watch the fight. I was fighting a Filipino fighter, and it was funny because all the workers on the cruise ship were Filipino. So they all came out of the kitchen and came out when we were fighting. And it felt like it was his hometown fight.”

Well, Kai Kara-France’s hard work and his teammates’ help have now landed him in a UFC title fight. Alexandre Pantoja has been unmovable as the champion ever since he captured the belt at UFC 290. Do you think ‘Don’t Blink’ will be the one to end the Brazilian’s reign? Let us know in the comments down below.