Three months after being filmed in an aggressive ‘road rage’ incident, former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has opened up about how that viral video came to be.
Whilst ‘The Last Stylebender’ was relieved that the viral incident didn’t escalate into a physical confrontation, he did admit that the aggressor was lucky that he’d run into him on a “good day.”
Israel Adesanya addresses ‘Road Rage’ video and explains spitting incident
Back in September, just three weeks after his title loss to Dricus Du Plessis, the popular middleweight was filmed in an alleged ‘road rage’ incident after an unknown man began taunting him on the roadside.
Both parties can be heard shouting expletives at one another, with the unknown pedestrian repeatedly getting in Israel Adesanya’s face – the video then appeared to show the UFC superstar spitting on the confronter.
“I had a great morning training [session], vibes was on, just chilling, and then this guy — I think because he saw my car — he doubled back and was like, ‘Izzy, one outs!’
“In New Zealand, that’s like, you and me, one on one, let’s go,” explained Adesanya on the Flagrant Podcast, noting that his ignoring of the hostility likely further enraged the man.
“The bit that pissed him off, he was at the green light, everyone was going around him, honking their horns like, ‘This f***** guy,’ and I just grabbed my car door and [opened it]. That pissed him off so he came in front of my car and I said, ‘Bro, I’m not going to f***** whoop your ass for free.’
“He pulled up and tried to talk all this trash to me and at one point I even tried to defuse it because I was like, ‘Bro, I don’t know you, I fight for millions [and] I’m not going to knock your ass out for free. ’… And he goes, ‘No, I fight for free. I fight for the streets and my pride’ – I was thinking, ‘You’re f***** stupid.”
The Last Stylebender, who recently teased that his MMA career could have just three short years left, admitted that he was secretly hoping that the confrontation would escalate, although he’s content that cooler heads prevailed.
“In the end, when I spat at him I was hoping, ‘Try something.’ At the end you see me spit at him and he just looks down and I realized, you’re not going to do s—. … And I just realized if I drop this guy right now, they’re going to put me through the wringer.
“If he spat back at me, then it’s on, but again, I’m glad I had a good day. I don’t like street fights. I don’t like confrontation, but if you bring the problem, I’m going to solve the problem.”
Whilst Adesanya noted that the unknown aggressor was lucky that they ran into each other on a good day, the same can’t be said for some of his City Kickboxing teammates.
“Do that to Dan Hooker – Dan’s a beast and Dan would probably act differently, maybe not knock him out but put him to sleep, hang him out.”
Israel Adesanya is 4-3 since moving back down to 185lbs and remains the #2 ranked middleweight contender in the world.