Israel Adesanya recently broke his silence on the viral confrontation he had with a passerby on the streets of Auckland, New Zealand.
Last month, a video emerged on social media showing the former UFC middleweight champion in an intense exchange with an individual on the streets. The confrontation quickly escalated into a heated, expletive-filled argument, during which Adesanya could be seen spitting in the direction of the person.
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While the exact cause of the wrangle remains unclear, TMZ reported that the unidentified individual in the video approached "The Last Stylebender" as he was parking his vehicle on K Rd. The person allegedly hurled the N-word at the UFC superstar and even challenged him to a fight. Fortunately, the situation didn’t escalate into a physical confrontation.
Picking a fight with a trained MMA fighter—especially someone of Adesanya's caliber—would be a terrible decision for any ordinary person. If the Nigerian-born Kiwi had chosen to, he could have easily wiped the floor with the heckler.
However, "The Last Stylebender" had a very specific reason for holding back and choosing not to engage physically with the individual.
Adesanya Reveals He Avoided Escalating Confrontation With Heckler To Prevent Street Violence
During a recent appearance on the Adam Carolla Show, Adesanya recounted the now-viral street encounter with the provocateur. The Auckland native explained that he was making a quick stop at an eatery when the individual suddenly confronted him, challenging him to a fight—a move Adesanya suspects was a setup.
"The Last Stylebender" remained relatively composed and didn’t take the situation too seriously but admitted that if the person had invaded his personal space, he would have been forced to defend himself. However, he held back, explaining that the tragic death of his City Kickboxing teammate, Fau Vake, who was killed in a senseless road rage incident in 2021, made him determined not to let the situation escalate into violence.
When he pulled up in front of the car, I was just like, 'Okay, if this guy breaches my [space], then I have to attack him,'" Adesanya said. "But I had a good day; I was in a good mental space, and I gave him a lot of grace because one of our teammates, Fau Vake, got killed by senseless street violence. He got coward-punched by a d*ckhead, and he's dead now. So in the moment, I knew if I hit this guy, he's going to hit his head because it's a sloped street. He's going to fall down, hit his head on the concrete, and probably bleed out.
Adesanya further mentioned that he never took the individual seriously from the start of their verbal exchange, admitting he found the entire situation amusing and couldn't help but chuckle throughout the encounter.
I was like, what the f**k, and I was laughing, so I think me laughing kind of p*ssed him off. Then him flexing and all that—look, within an hour I found out where he lived. It's my city, but again, I think Karma will get him.
"The Last Stylebender" is enduring the most difficult stretch of his career, having faced consecutive losses for the first time. Adesanya's effort to reclaim the UFC middleweight title fell short against reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis, succumbing to a fourth-round submission at UFC 305 in August.