🚨| Israel Adesanya was seemingly involved in
a road rage incident, in New Zealand. 😬#MMA
#UFC
pic.twitter.com/oHAYyZAtnK— MMA Frenzy (@mma_frenzy)
September 5, 2024
Israel
Adesanya opened up on a recent heated confrontation involving
another individual in New Zealand.
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Adesanya was recently filmed getting into a spat with an
unidentified person in his home country. The footage shows the
former
UFC middleweight champ trying to get inside his car while
arguing the person who repeatedly flexes his biceps. “The Last
Stylebender” appears to spit at the person before the video
ends.
While the reason for the altercation is unclear from the video,
Adesanya claims the man was trying to coax him into a fight while
he tried his best to de-escalate the situation. Adesanya also says
he’ll press charges against the man for racially abusing him and
threatening violence.
“On Wednesday morning, I was leaving a cafe on K Rd when a passing
car slowed, and an occupant began yelling racial abuse and
challenging me to fight,” Adesanya told the NZ Herald. “I smiled, waved it off, and
continued to my car. The vehicle stopped, and the abuse continued.
I again waved it off. The car then parked, and the passenger got
out, approached me aggressively, continued his torrent of abuse,
and demanded I fight him. I tried to de-escalate the situation
repeatedly. As he got closer, I asked bystanders to call the
police.
“He then entered my personal space, and I felt threatened. To
protect myself, I became more forceful in my language and
defensive. Though he paused, the abuse continued, so I left him
with some choice words, cautiously moved to my car, and drove
away.
“It’s ridiculous that I can’t buy a pie after training without some
idiot screaming despicable things and asking for a fight while his
mates film from the sidelines. Threatening violence is no joke.
It’s very dangerous, and incidents like this must not be glorified
online. I hope in the future people say something rather than get
their phones out to film.“
The person filming the video also spoke to the NZ Herald on the
condition of anonymity. While the individual admitted the cause of
the altercation was unclear, the person was not impressed with
Adesanya’s behavior.
“I immediately recognized him and from what I witnessed, I was
quite disappointed to see him acting in this manner in public,
swearing and spitting at the other guy and grabbing his privates,”
the person said. “As a public figure, I expected more from someone
who represents New Zealand internationally.”
Currently 1-3 in his last four bouts — all title fights — Adesanya
is fresh off a submission loss in a failed gold bid against
Dricus
Du Plessis at UFC 305
last month.