Israel Adesanya talks about following in the footsteps of teammate 'Blood Diamond' into China and MMA training

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Israel Adesanya (left) and Mike Mathetha (right) [Image credits: @blood_diam0nd on Instagram]

Israel Adesanya's teammate Mike Mathetha, AKA 'Blood Diamond', will be making his UFC debut on February 12 at UFC 271.

In a recently uploaded video to his YouTube channel, 'The Last Stylebender' talked about his teammate and the journey the two shared as fighters during their time in China. Israel Adesanya said:

"Yeah, Diamond first went to China before me. He kind of set it up, the blueprint, the whole, 'Being a kickboxer, going to China, racking up fights,' experience while learning MMA along the way as well. Jiu-jitsu, grappling, so, we got some amazing stories that we can share as well of our come-up in China. There was times when it was just me and him. He's in my corner sometimes, I'm in his corner and no one else. So yeah, it was the balckout crew."

Catch the video of Israel Adesanya talking about his teammate 'Blood Diamond' below:

Mathetha will take on Orion Cosce in a welterweight bout on the UFC 271 preliminary card.

Despite having an extensive career as a professional kickboxer, Mathetha is relatively new to the world of mixed martial arts. 'Blood Diamond' only has three MMA fights to his name but has come out victorious in all three of them.

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Israel Adesanya will headline UFC 271 against Robert Whittaker

The main event of UFC 271 will be a rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker for the UFC middleweight title. In their first encounter, 'The Last Stylebender' made quick work of Whittaker, finishing him in the second round at UFC 243.

However, according to 'The Reaper', many changes have been made in preparation for the second fight. During an interview with LowKick MMA, the New Zealand-born Australian said:

"I’ve changed so many things since that fight. I’ve changed coaching staff, I’ve changed locations, I’ve changed the way I train, why I train. I’ve changed myself as a person outside of the octagon, which directly impacts how I am inside, walking into it, how I deal with my training and how I develop my training, how I’m going through it all, how I’m going through the process. There’s been a lot of changes and I guess that’s the overarching feature or feeling I get when I’m moving into this next fight."

Catch the full interview below:

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