"When you are the champ...it's a distraction" - Israel Adesanya's DUI charge sees Michael Bisping draw similarities to his own lawsuit back in 2017
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya recently pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol in New Zealand.
The incident is reported to have happened three weeks prior to Adesanya's last bout against Sean Strickland at UFC 293. 'The Last Stylebender' lost the bout and his championship for a second time in a shock upset from Strickland.
Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping questioned how much the incident may have affected Israel Adesanya in the lead-up to UFC 293 during a recent podcast episode:
“The question is, three weeks before, how much did that affect him on fight night? Because coaches will always say this, a happy fighter with a steady home life is a better fighter. And that’s just facts. You see fighters going into the gym and giving up blood, sweat, and tears, emotionally and physically as well, and then if you’re going home and doing another five rounds with your wife or your girlfriend… It’s just negative energy. When you’re the champ and you got something like that going on, yeah I guess it’s a distraction.”
Bisping also narrated his own legal troubles in the lead up to his UFC 217 title defense against Georges St-Pierre and joked about it self-deprecatingly:
“I guess I can give an experience because I had a lawsuit coming up when I was defending the belt. And it came out around the time that I was promoting the fight with Georges St-Pierre. I had some pr*ck come out with a fabricated lawsuit, an altercation that happened at the gym. That never affected me too negatively. I don’t think it affected my performance on the night. I’d love to say that it did… I got choked the f**k out! That had nothing to do with it.”
Check out Michael Bisping's full comments below [29:00]:
Dana White addresses Israel Adesanya's DUI
Israel Adesanya faces three months in prison or a fine of AUD 4,500, which is roughly 2,680 USD.
UFC CEO Dana White addressed the case in a recent presser and expressed his relief at the fact that no one was hurt or no damage was done. White also hoped that it would be an isolated incident from Israel Adesanya and would not be repeated.
"No matter how many drinks you've had, if you drink, don't drive, man... He made a bad decision. Thank God nobody was hurt, him or anybody else... So, hopefully that's a one-and-done for him and he never does it again."
Check out Dana White's comments below: