Israel Adesanya prays for teammate who is fighting for life after being brutally attacked in Auckland
![Israel Adesanya (left) and Fau Vake (right) [Image Courtesy: @fauvake on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/05/e6770-16213215069501-800.jpg?w=500)
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya uploaded a post to Twitter giving an update on his friend Fau Vake. 'The Last Stylebender' asked his followers to pray for his friend who is in critical condition. Vake is a fellow mixed martial artist and teammate of Adesanya at the City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, New Zealand.
According to newshub.co.nz, Fau Vake was involved in a brawl on Sunday morning. Following the incident, Vake was admitted to Auckland City Hospital at 4 AM on Sunday.
Fau Vake is a young father and a fighter with a 2-0 professional record. According to the NZ Herald, four men have been charged pertaining to the incident: three 29-year-olds and a 32-year-old. A 29-year-old and the 32-year-old have been charged with 'common assault.' Another 29-year-old was charged with two counts of 'assaulting with intent to injure.' The final 29-year-old of the group was charged with 'wounding with intent and injuring with intent.'
UFC fighter and fellow City Kickboxing teammate Kai Kara France also retweeted Adesanya's post and asked folks to pray for their injured teammate Fau Vake.
A news website based in New Zealand called 'Stuff' wrongly reported that Vake succumbed to his injuries and passed away. The publication subsequently encountered the wrath of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
The publication has since corrected its article to say Vake is critically injured.
Israel Adesanya is preparing for UFC 263
'The Lasy Stylebender' is less than a month away from his clash against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 on June 12, 2021, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The middleweight champion will put his title on the line for the third time in the headliner of the pay-per-view (PPV) event.
While this unfortunate incident will undoubtedly affect Israel Adesanya's state of mind, he is one of the toughest men in the fight game and a thorough professional. Adesanya is someone who keeps his friends close but never loses sight of his target, so you can expect the champion to handle the situation as well as anyone.
Israel Adesanya's last outing in the octagon saw him challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 259. The Polish powerhouse handed Adesanya the first loss of his professional MMA career.
No doubt Israel Adesanya will be looking to come back and make a statement for the middleweight division at UFC 263.