Israel Adesanya recounts wild "middle of the night" experience with Chinese syndicate from his kickboxing days
Israel Adesanya recently recalled one of his "wildest memories" as a fighter in China, narrating how he hung out with the Chinese syndicate one night. The former UFC middleweight champion was notably among the biggest names in kickboxing before transitioning to MMA and has fought all over the world.
Ahead of his upcoming title fight against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 in Australia later this month, 'The Last Stylebender' spoke about his kickboxing days in China and recounted his wild experience meeting the mob. During an interview with Bloody Elbow, Adesanya said:
"I have a lot of my wildest memories in China. I was fighting on a show with my teammate, Mike ‘Blood Diamond’ Mathetha, and then, in the middle of the night, the promoter came into our hotel room and took us to go hang out with this triad dude and his entourage. That was a good, wild experience." [H/t: Bloody Elbow]
Adesanya will return to action after almost a year on hiatus. The Nigerian-born Kiwi last faced Sean Strickland in a middleweight title fight at UFC 293 last September, which he unexpectedly lost via unanimous decision. He's 3-2 in his last five outings.
Alexander Volkanovski shares his thoughts on the Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya title fight
Alexander Volkanovski recently previewed the upcoming title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. The former featherweight king predicted that Adesanya would put on an all-time performance against the South African fighter and emerge victorious.
During an interview with talkSPORT MMA last month, Volkanovski shared his thoughts on Adesanya's long-awaited comeback and claimed his teammate was ready to showcase his best.
"He's already fired up and on. We're gonna see him coming back, I think he's gonna look incredible. Dricus is a tough guy, great fighter. But I think this Israel that's gonna turn up is gonna be one of those, you know when he comes back, and you see a Paulo Costa performance."
Catch Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (6:10):