Adesanya also alleged politicians and leaders in the West African country are only interested in looting public funds
By Kehinde Okeowo
New Zealander-Nigerian mixed martial artist and current UFC Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya aka The Last Stylebender
has labelled Nigeria as “a very corrupt place”.
Adesanya also pointed out that Nigerian politicians, leaders and most people in the West African country are more interested in looting public funds.
He made this known recently while featuring in the recent episode of the Hut Boxin’ audiovisual podcast, where he said despite his love for Nigerians there are a lot of red flags about the country.
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He said, “Nigeria is a very corrupt place. I love my people but it is just that the government; everyone trying to find a way to siphon money.”
Adesanya recently reclaim his Middleweight title, while donning the Nigerian flag as he defeated long-term foe, Brazil’s Alex Pereira via knockout at UFC 287 on April 9, 2023.
He was paid $3.18 million for his troubles after defeating fight the Brazilian, making him the third current highest-paid UFC Fighter, behind Conor McGregor and Jon Jones.
Meanwhile, Pereira has reacted to how Adesanya mocked his son after his victory in their world title rematch on Saturday, saying he understood why his rival behaved that way.
Speaking to his fans in a YouTube video, Pereira said: “I don’t know I wouldn’t do the same. I can play with him, I’ve always played with him and teased him. It was something that happened. But I don’t know, it’s another child because I don’t know what his feeling was.
“I don’t know, it is seven years ago, he was enduring it and I saw his joy that he had after the knockout because this was his dream. That was his dream and he made it, but we’re comparing him [his son] with a child who was five-years-old at the time, right? I don’t have that mind.
“I can provide it because today he is12-years-old and before the fight, I saw that he was being influenced by other people. Sometimes even in some interviews and some reporters said ‘you’re going to do this?’ He said ‘I’m going to do it again’ and so on and he laughed.”
Adesanya was, however, not particularly apologetic after the incident, telling media members that he wanted to teach the 12-year-old a lesson, and calling him an “a**hole”.
