"I don't know what puppet master is pulling the strings" - Israel Adesanya slams the New Zealand government for handling of Fau Vake's death
![Israel Adesanya holds the NZ Government responsible for poor handling of Fau Vake's death [Right image credit: @stylebender via Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/06/2f9ae-16235748968669-800.jpg?w=500)
The last few weeks have been tumultuous for Israel Adesanya and all his City Kickboxing teammates, owing to the unfortunate and untimely passing of Fau Vake.
A rising and promising MMA fighter from Auckland, New Zealand, Fau Vake was critically injured last month in the early morning of May 16 and passed away after a week in the hospital.
NZ Herald reported that four individuals were arrested for the incident on Symonds Street in Central Auckland who appeared in court the following Monday.
Two of them were charged with common assault, which, even in serious cases, has a one-year prison term penalty in New Zealand. The other two were charged with two counts of assaulting with intent to injure, and wounding with intent and injuring with intent respectively.
Following the passing of Fau Vake, one of the men now faces charges of manslaughter and all of their cases have been transferred to the New Zealand High Court, reports NZ Herald. However, the charged individuals have been granted name suppression until June 23.
Israel Adesanya calls out the NZ Government for poor handling of assault cases
On Saturday night, following a successful title defense against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, the UFC middleweight champion had a lot to say. Adesanya claimed he held the New Zealand Government responsible for poor handling of the death of his friend and teammate in a long comment at the press conference.
"I just wish the Government in New Zealand would just wisen up for f***ing once. We're backwards in a lot of things... [Australia] created a really harsh penalty for people who blindshot people. And you'd expect New Zealand to do the same thing, but when the bill got proposed, I can't remember how many people passed on it, but they passed. For what reason would you want to pass a bill like that? If someone walks up to someone doing nothing, be it an old man or an old lady, whatever, and blindshots them from the back, give them 20 years. Standard. Because that's assault with a deadly weapon. But no, someone was like 'That's stupid'. Who does that?," Israel Adesanya said.
Israel Adesanya dedicated his victory to Fau Vake in an emotional speech post-fight, and so did his City Kickboxing teammate Brad Riddell, who fought in the prelims.
Israel Adesanya to NZ Prime Minister: You know it was wrong
Israel Adesanya directly addressed New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, commending her for the handling of mass shootings and urging her to deal with the cases of assault in the same manner:
"Jacinda [Ardern], I don't know who else is in your f***ing cabinet, you know it was wrong. You know exactly what to do. I don't know what puppetmasters are pulling the strings. But you are the leader of the country. You handled the mosque shootings like a f***ing champ. Please do the same with this sh*t too?" Israel Adesanya added.
You can watch the full UFC 263 press conference below: