The UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is arguably one of the biggest combat sports athletes on the planet. He is revered by MMA fans worldwide. However, he is not that much of a favorite amongst the news outlets in his home country of New Zealand. ‘The Last Stylebender’ recently shared a tweet taking a shot at his local media houses.

Izzy is coming off an impressive knockout victory at UFC 287 over his arch-rival Alex Pereira, who has proved to be the toughest challenge in his MMA career so far. Despite his major achievements and successes in the world of MMA, he resents his native country for not respecting mixed martial arts, like other countries do.

NZ artist speaks about Adesanya’s treatment by the country’s media

New Zealand is a country that is famous for team sports like cricket and rugby. But there is a lack of attention on the mixed martial arts front. Recently, Rapper and producer Nathan King, better known by the name Derty Sesh, shed light on the treatment that NZ media gives to their champion Israel Adesanya. He claims that ‘The Last Stylebender’ is among the biggest stars from New Zealand. Sesh mentioned that people shouldn’t expect Adesanya to wear the national flag because they don’t respect him.

He said, “This guy [Adesanya] is the biggest person in New Zealand. I don’t give a f*** what anybody says.” Sesh added, “He is massive. He’s bigger than the Prime Minister.” Israel Adesanya took notice of these comments and explained why he doesn’t appear in local media outlets anymore.

Israel Adesanya explains why avoids NZ media

The UFC middleweight champion shared a tweet where he explained what stopped him from engaging with the local media. He started by mentioning that he is a globally recognized athlete. Adesanya wrote: “‘I’m not local, I’m global’ – Me.” He added, “I used to do local media, but the people that own it are ancient and puritans (when they in public) so they despise a durty guy like me.”

He slammed the owners of the local media houses for the supposed old-school mentality. Israel Adesanya made it known he feels the same towards them and said, “The feeling is mutual , but also we live in 2023 earth and we have the internet. So shoutout to you guys!”

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Israel Adesanya is unlikely to resolve his feud with the local New Zealand media anytime soon based on the statements he has made on Twitter. Also, it may explain his preference to represent Nigeria, his country of birth, in the octagon.

What do you make of Israel Adesanya’s comments? Let us know in the comments down below.

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