"I'll rather fight in Australia" - Israel Adesanya explains why he'll never fight in New Zealand

Israel 'The Last Stylebender' Adesanya [Image credits - Getty]

Israel Adesanya has reiterated his intentions of never fighting in New Zealand again. The Nigerian-born Kiwi was upset over the strict lockdown norms in New Zealand last year and has seemingly made up his mind to never perform in the country again.

Israel Adesanya is blasting the New Zealand government, saying he will NEVER fight in the country again. tmz.me/XNmyzTO

Adesanya's City Kickboxing Gym teammate Dan Hooker was supposed to fight Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266 back in September last year. Due to the COVID-19 related restrictions in the country at the time, Hooker wasn't allowed access to gyms and was forced to train at home despite being in a fight camp.

Hooker needed to travel to the United States to compete but his visa procedure was left incomplete by the Kiwi government until the very last moment. The No.8-ranked UFC lightweight was handed his visa to fly to the U.S. just two days before the fight.

Dan Hooker appreciation post 👏

▶︎ Took him six weeks to get home following fight in Jan due to NZ Covid rules
▶︎ Landed just 14 hours before making weight ahead of #UFC266 due to visa issues
▶︎ Takes fight 🆚 Islam Makhachev at #UFC267 back in Abu Dhabi in just four weeks https://t.co/nu3fjpnCxc

Israel Adesanya spoke out against the ill-treatment meted out by the country's government to his teammate as well as MMA as a sport altogether. He said he'd rather fight in Australia and bring in revenue for them instead. Explaining his decision to never fight in New Zealand again, Adesanya said:

"I'll never fight in Auckland again, in New Zealand... What they did to Dan Hooker, Dan Hooker rocks the country's flag proud on his back, he walks out, he represents New Zealand and the fact that did that to him while they were letting all these other teams go back and forth, get MIQ vouchers easily... I think the Indian cricket team got something like 170 rooms now like we can't even get rooms to come back into our own country so that really pissed me off... I'll rather fight in Australia give them all that revenue."

Check out Israel Adesanya's interview with ESPN MMA below:

Israel Adesanya unimpressed by Robert Whittaker's improvements since their first fight

Israel Adesanya is set to take on Aussie fighter Robert Whittaker in a much-awaited rematch this weekend. The pair will collide with the middleweight title on the line in the main event of UFC 271 which takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Although he admits Whittaker is an improved version of the man he beat back in 2019, Adesanya isn't impressed by 'The Reaper'. He is fully confident about stepping inside the octagon and once again getting his hand raised on the night. In a video released on his YouTube channel, 'The Last Stylebender' said:

"He played the game very well against all three opponents, I feel. At the same time, you put those three guys together, they don’t amount to me. The way they play the game, it’s not the same. So like I said, I was not impressed by your performance."

Watch Israel Adesanya discuss Robert Whittaker's improvements in the video below: