In Photos: Israel Adesanya shows off his custom UFC shorts, tapping into his Mortal Kombat Raiden persona

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will look to become the first man to hold his division's title three separate times at UFC 305 this weekend. 'The Last Stylebender' will fight close to home inside RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, to challenge divisional kingpin Dricus du Plessis for the UFC middleweight throne.

Ahead of his big main event fight, Adesanya did his usual UFC photoshoot for the event's marketing materials. A lifelong anime and video game fan, the Nigerian-born Kiwi channeled Mortal Kombat character Raiden. Sporting custom lightning-inspired Venum shorts, 'The Last Stylebender' did his best impression of the Japanese thunder god.

Adesanya posted photos and clips of it on his Instagram account, with the caption:

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"Lightning Strikes 1…2…3 times. 😏"

Photos part 1. [Image credit: @stylebender on Instagram]

Photos part 2. [Image credit: @stylebender on Instagram]

Photos part 3. [Image credit: @stylebender on Instagram]

Photos part 4. [Image credit: @stylebender on Instagram]

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UFC president Dana White confirms winner of Dricus du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya will face Sean Strickland next

In an interview with veteran sports radio host Jim Rome, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the next challenger to the middleweight title after UFC 305 will be former divisional ruler Sean Strickland.

When asked if the American 185-pounder was next in line, White said:

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''Listen, Sean Strickland right now is the number-one-ranked middleweight in the world, and the answer is yes (he will be next to fight for the title).''

Strickland has had a significant history with both Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis, as he fought them in separate world title fights. At UFC 293 last year, 'Tarzan' took the belt from Israel Adesanya via a Performance of the Night-worthy unanimous decision.

He then dropped the belt in his next fight against Dricus du Plessis, who beat him via split decision in a Fight of the Night-winning bout at UFC 297 earlier this year.

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