Watch: Israel Adesanya gives emotional reaction to Fau Vake's assailant getting only six months of house detention
![Israel Adesanya gives emotional reaction to Fau Vake's attacker getting sentenced [Image credit: @stylebender via Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/08/384e5-16290254406841-800.jpg?w=500)
Israel Adesanya and every single one of his City Kickboxing teammates and trainers are disappointed and enraged at the moment. The rage is over the New Zealand judiciary system because of the sentence handed to Fau Vake's assailant.
Kiwi MMA fighter Fau Vake and his brother Ika Vake were assaulted by four men in the early hours of May 16 on Symonds Street in Auckland's CBD. While Ika Vake got away with a concussion, bruises, cuts and abrasions, Fau Vake was not so fortunate. He passed away in an Auckland hospital a little more than a week later.
Ofa Folau, Siofilisi Paongo, Semisie Pomale and a fourth man who has name suppression were charged for the offense. Of the four, Ofa Folau, 29, pleaded guilty to two representative charges of assault with intent to injure.
Folau received a sentence of six months of home detention for each of the two charges, to be served concurrently.
Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker, Brad Riddell and other City Kickboxing fighters have been vocally condemning the light sentence received by Fau Vake's attacker. In a recently released NZ Herald video, Israel Adesanya gave an emotional reaction to the sentence:
"It's like every day or multiple times a week, I'll just get a moment just like 'F*ck, he's gone, physically'. For me, I don't have kids but the thought of his daughter still wondering when her dad is coming home - that's the one that really kicks the most. It's just sad. I remember in the hospital, she was asking him to wake up. That was really hard," Israel Adesanya said.
The UFC middleweight champion called out the NZ lawmakers yet again for rejecting the bill drafted by National MP Matt King that proposed 20 years of imprisonment for a coward punch offense:
"He only gets six months of home D (detention) where he gets to be in the comfort of his own home and doesn't get to work and gets to chill. For me, I don't know if he can sleep at night. For me, I just don't understand what kind of a person looks at a law like that and goes 'Hmm, this is a bad law. Why would we put this in place?' I don't understand. I don't get it," Israel Adesanya added.
Watch the video featuring Israel Adesanya and Brad Riddell below:
Israel Adesanya and teammates slam NZ Government for poor handling of Fau Vake's death
City Kickboxing fighter Dan 'Hangman' Hooker took to Twitter the day the sentence was passed to give his reaction.
Israel Adesanya has criticized the New Zealand government for a while as well. Adesanya recently aired his frustrations at the post-UFC 263 press conference after a successful title defense against 'The Italian Dream' Marvin Vettori:
"I just wish the Government in New Zealand would just wisen up for f***ing once. We're backwards in a lot of things... [Australia] created a really harsh penalty for people who blindshot people. And you'd expect New Zealand to do the same thing, but when the bill got proposed, I can't remember how many people passed on it, but they passed. For what reason would you want to pass a bill like that?"
He then went on to address the NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and asked her to handle the tragic incidents of blindshots the same way she dealt with the mosque shootings - "like a f***ing champ".
Israel Adesanya dedicated his UFC 263 victory to Fau Vake as well, mentioning the latter in his post-fight octagon interview with Joe Rogan.