Watch: Fans compare Cristiano Ronaldo's Coca-Cola controversy with Israel Adesanya's ongoing beef with Monster Drinks
MMA fans have begun to draw a parallel between Israel Adesanya's long-running disdain for Monster Drinks and Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo's recent sponsor war with Coca-Cola
On multiple occasions, the UFC middleweight champion has snubbed the 'Official Energy Drink' of the promotion, Monster Drinks, Inc.
At UFC 243 post-fight presser following his spectacular KO win over Robert Whittaker, the Nigerian-born Kiwi tossed a can of Monster Drinks straight away from the table. On another occasion, after defending his title against Paulo Costa at UFC 253, Israel Adesanya covered the drink with his UFC belt when he arrived at the conference table.
Israel Adesanya was seen quietly removing a bottle of Monster Drinks at the UFC 259 pre-fight media day and placing it on the ground. Israel Adesanya also made a disapproving comment about the company when he settled down for a media chat ahead of UFC 234.
Watch a compilation of all the instances below:
Monster Drinks and the UFC extended their contract with a multi-year deal in 2018. As part of this deal, the green-colored, grunge-type font 'M' logo of the company gets featured right at the center of the canvas and other strategic visual placements. Cans of Monster Drinks are also placed on the table at press conferences as part of the deal, and Israel Adesanya takes every opportunity he can to remove the products from public view.
Did Israel Adesanya cause Monster Drinks' market value to drop?
Even though Cristiano Ronaldo had to bow out of UEFA Euro 2020 after Portugal lost to Belgium 1-0 on Sunday night in the Round of 16, he will continue to be a talking point till the tournament is over, and probably even after.
Despite being the frontrunner for the Golden Boot this year and the all-time top scorer in the Euro, Cristiano Ronaldo has managed to create even bigger waves outside the pitch. The reason for this is a show of contempt towards Coca-Cola, one of the chief official sponsors of the event and a colossus of the industry.
Sitting down for his pre-match press conference ahead of Portugal's group stage clash with Hungary, Ronaldo noticed two Coca-Cola bottles in front of him on the table. The ace footballer removed them from the camera's view with a look of disapproval on his face. He replaced the soft drinks with water, saying "Agua" out loud, which means 'water' in Portuguese.
With a single action, Ronaldo implied that everyone should drink water instead of aerated and carbonated soft drinks like Coca-Cola.
This seemingly insignificant action cost the beverage giant $4 billion in market value as Coca-Cola's shares dropped 1.6%, from $56.17 to $55.22, by the end of the press conference, per CBS News.
Even though Israel Adesanya has been way more vocal and frequent in his dislike for Monster Drinks, he has not been able to cause any such considerable loss for the company. However, fans surely enjoy it as one of the many anti-establishment antics that 'The Last Stylebender' often engages in.