On Sunday, Israel Adesanya will make his 19th appearance in the UFC when he takes on American Joe Pyfer in Seattle. He speaks with Christopher Reive about his journey under the spotlight so far.
“F***, it’s almost a decade, ay? 2018. That’s crazy.”
True to form, Israel Adesanya makes no attempt to censor himself as we meet at City Kickboxing’s Morningside headquarters on a beautiful Wednesday morning to discuss his UFC career to date.
That authenticity has long been part of the charm of the only two-time UFC middleweight champion, and it’s fitting the most recent interview should start in a similarly colourful fashion to our first, back in January 2018, when he was preparing for his UFC debut against Rob Wilkinson.
Winning that fight by second-round TKO set The Last Stylebender on track to what would become one of the greatest runs in the division’s history; the new dog in the yard, hungry and ready to claim the division as his territory.
Within 15 months of that debut, Adesanya had fought another five times, including two main events, and claimed the interim title, which he turned into the undisputed belt later in 2019.
During an interview in 2019, Adesanya told me he knew how to clock the game. Now, asked to revisit that line as he prepares for his UFC Seattle headliner against rising American Joe Pyfer, the 36-year-old admires his work.
“That’s actually a good one, ‘I know how to clock this game’. I feel like, to be honest, yeah,” Adesanya tells the Herald.
“But you know when you clock a game and you still have other missions to complete? Like, there’s the main mission, the story mission, but you still have the side missions where it’s, ‘I’ll do that after I’ve clocked the game’, I’m kind of on that now.”
To date, Adesanya has held the UFC middleweight title twice. He holds the second-longest winning streak in the division with 12 in a row, is tied for the most knockdowns in the middleweight division (13), and is tied for the third-most post-fight bonuses in the division (eight). He was also inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame last year for his fight against American Kelvin Gastelum in which he won the interim title.
It’s a record No 14-ranked Pyfer praises. The American, who had hoped to train with No 4-ranked Adesanya as he never expected he’d get a chance to share the octagon with him, tells the Herald he holds his opponent in high regard.
“I told him I wanted to train with him at some point, I think it’d be cool,” Pyfer says of a past meeting with Adesanya.
“I think he’s one of the better kickboxers in our division. I think he’s the middleweight goat, so yeah, it didn’t happen, but maybe after this fight.”
The past eight years have been a whirlwind for Adesanya, whose ability in the octagon, coupled with his polarising personality, led to his star rising internationally. His count of 8.3 million followers on Instagram is an indication of his reach; the spotlight permanently on for the Nigerian-Kiwi.
With his success, Adesanya has had to learn to deal with fame on the fly.
“There’s no book on how to be in the spotlight, how to be famous. But I can’t complain when I begged God for food and he gave me a lot on my plate. I’m eating good.”
But it hasn’t just been a case of how he has dealt with fame, but also about how those around him have responded to his rising star.
The question of how his success has impacted those around him seems to catch the fighter with his hands down.
“F***, that’s a really good question,” he says.
“A lot, actually. I remember when I first came back to the gym after my second fight or one of them, after a team debrief I said, ‘guys, don’t be any different. Don’t treat me any different’.
“People project sometimes and they behave how they think you behave. You can’t hold it against them because they’re just projecting. But my fame has affected people in positive and negative ways. But positive ways, I feel like I’ve brought a lot of light and a lot of smiles to people.”
He notes his favourite example of bringing light to people’s lives is when he’s out for a drive in Kurama – his McLaren 720S named after the powerful tailed beast in popular anime Naruto – and sees the excitement it brings to children.
“That never gets old. It’s just the joy. I’m just driving my car and seeing the kid [get excited] like he’s just seen a dragon is f***ing cool, man. That right there, that’s priceless.”
In recent years, he has been taking care of business outside the octagon as well, looking to life after he takes his gloves off for the last time.
Under the guidance of his father, Olufemi Adesanya, he has been steadily building a portfolio of property, business and festival investments.
“Shout out to my dad. My dad is that guy. I have so much respect for that man. He’s helped me triple, quadruple my net worth and that’s because of his smarts and his intellectual property when it comes to property itself, businesses, investments,” Adesanya says.
“I’ve seen so many athletes, actors, actresses, musicians rise and fall and leave with nothing. I never want to be one of those statistics. I want to be one of the great statistics that quadrupled their net worth and do great things with the wealth they’ve amassed over their career. So far, I’m doing well. I’m still doing well, still making money, and still helping people along the way.”
This includes Adesanya Close, a seven-house development in Palmerston North, investment in Auckland eatery Broke Boy Tacos, and launching the AfroSoul festival alongside Audiology Touring last year. The festival is set to return in October 2026.
But life after fighting is not something Adesanya is thinking about much at this point in time.
Heading into his main event spot in Seattle – his 15th headlining spot in his 19th UFC appearance – the former champion is looking to get things back on track after a three-fight losing streak.
It’s been more than a year since his most recent performance, a second-round TKO loss to French fighter Nassourdine Imavov, in which Adesanya got caught early in the round after dictating the first five minutes of the fight.
To many, this weekend’s bout against Pyfer is a pivotal moment in terms of the future of Adesanya’s career. But while he agrees it’s an important fight, Adesanya brushes off the idea that it’s do-or-die for him.
While he has taken his time to return, he says retirement is not something he has truly considered.
“The thought of ‘I’m done. I’m truly done and never fighting again’, nah, just because there was still so much left on the table. Not even just legacy-wise but monetary-wise,” Adesanya says.
“When I leave this game, I will leave so much on the table, but I want to collect as much as I can. I want to collect as much as I can before I leave, and I am. I’ve got a wingspan – just give me the loot.”
Despite his three-fight losing streak, Adesanya remains one of the UFC’s biggest stars and, inside the walls of City Kickboxing, he takes his position as an elder of the group seriously. Well, as seriously as you get among the jovial group training in the professional team at the Auckland gym.
Having clawed his way to the top of the sport, Adesanya is happy to impart advice on any fellow fighter who comes asking, be that technique-wise or how to approach things once they crack the world’s top promotion.
One of those pieces of advice is the importance of hitting the ground running once you get signed. In his first 365 days with the promotion, Adesanya fought five times. Within two years, he was the undisputed middleweight champion.
Although his is a path that few will replicate, he says being ready to take any opportunity plays a key part in building a fighter’s overall brand.
“I tell all the young guys who listen now, if they ask me for advice, I say once you hit the UFC, boom,” Adesanya says.
“If you ask for advice, I’ll give it to you. If not, you can make your own journey. I’m here to lend a helping hand.”
He will share the card in Seattle with one of those rising fighters, with light heavyweight Navajo Stirling making his third UFC appearance and looking to continue an unbeaten start to his professional MMA career.
“Israel’s given me insight into everything in coming into fighting,” Stirling tells the Herald.
“The way a champion carries himself, deals with the fame inside and outside of the octagon. I’ve taken small parts of his game and blended them into my own... being compared to him, I look at it as a positive because of everything he’s done. But as far as I’m concerned, I’ve got more things to do, I’ve got so much more to prove and I’m not just going to sit on the high horse and say like, ‘hey, I train with Israel’.”
On Stirling’s influence on his own camp, Adesanya says: “He’s pushed me this camp, man. He’s so f***ing strong, he’s so explosive and when we work together it’s just always friendly competition. We’re always trying to level each other up.”
Reflecting on his UFC journey so far, Adesanya had a lot to reminisce about. But asked if there was one performance that stood out to him, it was his most recent win that came to mind.
On April 9 (NZ time) in 2023, Adesanya claimed the middleweight title after losing it to longtime rival Alex Pereira five months prior.
But it wasn’t simply the win that was so sweet for the Kiwi, who had two losses against Pereira on his kickboxing record as well as the one in the UFC, but the way in which it came.
Adesanya knocked the Brazilian out in the second round of the bout in Miami, capped off by a celebration in which he mimed shooting three arrows into his fallen foe. He then delivered a speech about happiness that resonated with many fans watching – one that still gets mentioned to him today.
The celebration itself has also since been adapted by various other sportspeople on the world stage.
“It’s cool. You can make something that’s emoting, good for the culture, anime, all that s***,” he reflects.
“Authentically expressing myself is what got me here, and I’m never going to stop. You can call me whatever you want to call me, but you can never call me fake because I keep it real.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.