Israel Adesanya is one of the most popular fighters in the world. He is the current UFC middleweight champion and is undefeated in his division. His one loss in the UFC came when he went up a weight class, to challenge for the UFC light heavyweight title.

Adesanya lives in New Zealand but wasn’t born there. The middleweight champion was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to New Zealand when he was 10. As a kid, ‘The Last Stylebender’ was more interested in anime than sports. But started learning martial arts because he was bullied in school. In a recent interview, Adesanya was asked about the fondest memory he has of growing up in Nigeria.

He said, “To be honest, there was time. Ok, there was a time because I was quite well off. My family was quite well off in Nigeria, and I wasn’t doing too good at school so, and I was getting really bad grades. So, my parents made me go live with my teacher during the weekdays at one point for a few months. Like, maybe nine months. And I come home on the weekends. But during the weekdays, I stay with my teacher in his house.”

“During that time, I think that’s how I learnt how to be street-wise. Cause, after school I did my homework, then I play with the kids next door. They had a monkey called stainless. A monkey, like a Macaque, and I made friends with that monkey and then the kids. Then I just hang out with them after school and just go do fun stuff with friends and I was just able to be like just a street kid. But without being a street kid, with a rich family behind me,” he added.

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Next challenge for Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya is arguably one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC right now. He made his debut in the promotion in 2018, and since then has not taken a step back. He entered the UFC on the back of an 11-0 record in MMA and 75-5 record in kickboxing. After entering the octagon, he went on to nine consecutive fights and also became the UFC interim, and later unified it by beating Robert Whittaker.

He has defended his title three times and hasn’t really been bothered by his opponents. ‘The Last Stylebender‘ last fought at UFC 263, in June 2021, when he retained his title against Marvin Vettori. It looks like he’ll be back in action again, and against a former champion.

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Robert Whittaker, the former UFC middleweight champion, who dropped the title to Adesanya, posted something recently. ‘The Reaper‘ took to social media and posted photos with the caption saying, “11 weeks #AndNew @ufc @ufcanz.”

Whittaker hasn’t fought since April 2021 and is currently on a three-fight win streak. He could be hinting at getting the title shot next, but nothing has been made official yet. However, this is a rematch fans have been asking for, and if it is made official, it will get everyone excited.

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