Israel Adesanya Breaks Silence After Viral Road Rage Incident

Israel Adesanya and him arguing

A video recently went viral showing Israel Adesanya in a heated exchange with another driver. It looked pretty intense, with Izzy getting all animated and dropping some choice words. But now, the former middleweight champion has come forward with the backstory of this whole ordeal.

According to ‘The Last Stylebender,’ this wasn’t just run-of-the-mill road rage. He claimed that the other driver started hurling racial abuse at him. He said he tried to brush it off at first. But apparently, this guy was persistent. Like a bad rash that just won’t quit.

“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. I smiled, waved it off, and continued to my car. The vehicle stopped, and the abuse continued. The car then parked, and the passenger got out, approached me aggressively, continued his torrent of abuse, and demanded I fight him,” said Adesanya via The New Zealand Herald.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Adesanya admits he got “more forceful” in his language as the altercation continued. Plus, he’s not happy about the incident being glorified online. Fair point. Racial abuse and threats of violence cross a line.

Israel Adesanya has filed a formal complaint with the police. The suspect has not been identified yet, but the search is ongoing. This whole incident is a reminder that fame comes with its own set of challenges.

Israel Adesanya Blames ‘Dumb’ Mistake That Cost Him The Fight Against Dricus Du Plessis

UFC 305: The bright lights, the roaring crowd, and Adesanya looking to reclaim his throne stepped into the octagon against Dricus du Plessis. For a while there, it looked like he might pull it off. Adesanya was dancing around du Plessis, landing shots, looking like his old self. But then, as they say in the fight game, it only takes one moment to change everything.

In the fourth round, du Plessis caught Adesanya with a heavy shot. Suddenly, he was wobbling. Du Plessis had Izzy’s back and locked in a rear-naked choke. Game over, folks. Now, Adesanya’s not one to mince words. After the fight, he called it as he saw it

 “I just made a stupid, dumb mistake on the ground,” said Adesanya in the UFC 305 post-fight interview.

This loss marks Adesanya’s third in his last four fights. But ‘The Last Stylebender’ is not ready to hang up his gloves just yet. In true Izzy fashion, he shut down those retirement rumors instantly.