Israel Adesanya wore a t-shirt at UFC 259 as a tribute to his father. (ESPN MMA)
Israel Adesanya wears ‘Dadesanya’ t-shirt for his father at UFC 259 press conference
UFC middleweight champion and light heavyweight contender Israel Adesanya was at the UFC 259 press conference sporting a special t-shirt.
It was one that paid tribute to his father, Oulwafemi. The t-shirt featured an image of his father, with the text ‘Dadesanya’ written under it.
That is, of course, a clever play on words which combines his surname ‘Adesanya’ and ‘dad’.
His parents have played a huge part in his career and migrated to New Zealand when ‘Izzy’ was 10 in order to get the best education for their children.
‘The Last Stylebender’ is still very close to his father. In fact, he was a part of the conversation when Adesanya was in an online feud with Jon Jones.
Jones mentioned his father, and all hell broke lose after that as Izzy took a low blow mentioning Jones’ deceased mother.
That feud never translated to a fight. Izzy was dodging Jones when any serious mention of a fight was made. ‘Bones’ was fighting at 205 then.
Adesanya did not take the step up then and waited until Jones vacated the belt. Jan Blachowicz was crowned the champion at UFC 253 and this is when Izzy pounced.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi and the Pole are now scheduled to fight this weekend at UFC 259 for UFC gold.
It will be a chance for Adesanya to become a double-champion while Blachowicz will be defending his belt for the first time.
The fight is evenly-balanced with predictions going either way from fans and experts alike. Adesanya, who is 20-0 in his professional MMA career, will have to be wary of the champion’s knockout power.
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