Israel Adesanya is truly having a tough time. ‘Stylebender’ is coming off his third loss in his last four fights when he was submitted in the fifth round by Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305. As a result, for the first time since September 2019, Israel Adesanya is not listed among the top fifteen UFC fighters regardless of weight class.

This truly proves that he is under some duress and is looking for his way to climb up the ladder again. But while many meditate or go to therapy to get back into their right mental zone, for Adesanya, it has always been different. A secret that he revealed in his recent documentary ‘STYLEBENDER’ on Prime Video.

Taking to his X account, Adesanya shared a clip from his documentary where he reveals his inner thoughts and why he believes MMA is the true way for him to channel his emotions. In the clip, Adesanya was asked about what he feels while fighting. While it seemed like the Stylebender would drop an answer to the question, he hesitated and stopped. Before finally revealing that it is a way for him to feel powerful again.

He said, “I got to say getting my power back or finding my strength.” ‘Izzy’ further emphasized how MMA is the perfect tool for him to channel his emotions. As he said, “Which is what martial arts is good for. But thing is, it’s like… you know, it’s better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war. Be an animal, be a savage, but learn to control it.”

Adesanya also made sure that his fans were aware of the importance of mental well-being in a person’s life. So taking the captions of the post, he asked his fans to protect their mental health and take good care of it. “If you don’t look after your physical health, you’re gonna get sick. The same thing goes for your mental health, you gotta protect your energy because “Health is wealth.” Well, it surely looks like Adesanya is really aware of the importance of mental health. Especially when we know how emotional he is as a human. This was evident from his pre-event press conference with then-opponent Dricus Du Plessis.

Du Plessis breaks down Israel Adesanya before UFC 305

At the press conference prior to the middleweight title fight at UFC 305, Dricus Du Plessis managed to poke Israel Adesanya to the point of him breaking down in tears in front of everyone present at the venue. The reason? An intense emotional back and forth when Du Plessis mentioned the ‘Stylebender’s family. As ‘Izzy’ began to tear up, he threatened the South African fighter for bringing up his family into the conversation. He said, “He touched on a sensitive subject because I am doing this for my family. I am doing this for the people I love, and I will fight for you forever, I swear to God.” 

The root of the issue was probably Du Plessis calling himself the first “truly African” champion in the UFC. A dig at ‘Izzy’ as he was raised in New Zealand despite being born in Nigeria. This intense verbal jibe might’ve also thrown him off his game as Adesanya failed to grab the win against Du Plessis. But now, he would be looking to get back into his game and earn his spot again in the P4P rankings. What do you think? Will Adesanya be able to pull it off? Let us know in the comments.