"He got a new fan in me too" - Israel Adesanya admits that Jake Paul won his respect
Israel Adesanya is now a fan of Jake Paul as well. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on ESPN MMA, the 31-year-old Nigerian spoke about the time he first met the YouTube sensation. Israel Adesanya is currently scheduled to fight Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 for all the light-heavyweight marbles. While Jake Paul is looking to extend his pro boxing career when he takes on Ben Askren on April 17, this year.
How do Israel Adesanya and Jake Paul know each other?
Israel Adesanya and Jake Paul were strangers to each other until they met at the highly-anticipated boxing showdown between Roy Jones Jr. and 'Iron' Mike Tyson. After being called to do commentary for the fight, Adesanya was seen greeting Paul in the lobby after the super-fight at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.
Fighting on the undercard of the Tyson-Jones fight was Jake Paul and former professional American basketball player Nate Robinson. After brutally knocking Robinson out in the second round of the fight, Paul went on to amass two wins on the trot to prove himself as a worthy contender in the squared-circle.
Just two years into his signing with the UFC, Israel Adesanya went on to carve his own path towards championship contention. Putting on a clinic against some of the top fighters in the business, he quickly rose up the ranks before taking on then-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. The two were set to square off in front of a sold-out crowd at the Marvel Stadium in Docklands, Australia.
Staying true to his word, Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker in the second round of the fight with a vicious knockout. The Nigerian-born superstar has successfully defended his middleweight title on two occasions ever since.
Speaking with ESPN MMA's Ariel Helwani most recently, Israel Adesanya was overtly asked about his relationship with YouTube celebrity turned boxer, Jake Paul. During the interview, Adesanya divulged the following:
"I met him in the lobby of the hotel after the fight. There's a video on YouTube. I meet him at the hotel. And then later on I pull up to the house for a party and then talking to him I realized, 'oh s**t he's a fan!' And he's a cool kid. Without all the cameras and stuff, he was cool. He was chill."
Catch the entire interview, here!
Israel Adesanya and Jake Paul are both prize-fighters in their own disciplines. But with crossover promotion matchups growing in popularity at a staggering pace, do you think a potential money fight between the two is possible?
Let us know in the comment section below!