Before making his presence known as “The Last Stylebender”, Israel Adesanya actually went by a very different title.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Adesanya has been all over the mixed martial arts world in the last few months following his monumental triumph over Robert Whittaker back at UFC 243. He made a statement in the main event of that card in Melbourne, finishing Whittaker within two rounds to become the UFC Middleweight Champion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Now that he’s the champion we’re starting to learn a whole lot more about Adesanya, and that includes his background in combat sports.<\/p>\r\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/espnmma\/status\/1202003883490500608<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
“The Chinese brought me over as a ‘journeyman’ for their guys to beat up on, because obviously they want to promote their guys,” Adesanya told ESPN<\/a>. “Then that didn’t work too well for them because I ain’t no b***h, and I beat up all their guys. I spoke the language a little bit, I was immersed in their culture and they loved me over there so they said ‘you know what, let’s bring this guy on our team’. Whenever they had a show it was Team China vs everyone else, so they gave me a name that means “The Black Dragon” and they kind of put this narrative behind me for the Chinese people to back me up”.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Adesanya has a fascinating and rich history in both kickboxing and mixed martial arts, and it truly does feel like this is only the beginning of his rise to prominence.<\/p>\r\n