UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been one of the faces of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for the last few years. The Kiwi fighter has time and again proved that he is the rightful successor of the legendary Anderson Silva.
Adesanya has had a life full of ups and downs. From immigrating to another country to getting bullied as a child, ‘The Stylebender’ has been through a lot of hardships. However, Adesanya managed to change the course of his life by first becoming a kickboxing champion and then a two-time UFC champ. His story sounds like what would make an exceptional film, and Adesanya himself exhibits the ‘main character energy‘.
It appears that the UFC champion has also realized it and is going to share his story on a grand scale. Recently, it was disclosed that a documentary titled “Stylebender” is set to be released pretty soon, with a primary focus on the remarkable journey of the middleweight champ.
The Main Character. #Player1 🎮🍿
Even if I wasn’t the protagonist, I’d implore everybody to see this film (especially men). We can’t keep living like this, fake masculinity and lack of emotional intelligence…let me show you brothers a true way of being, love and care for… pic.twitter.com/4DjlKkjRtr— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) August 4, 2023
Previously, Adesanya took to Twitter to shed light on the inspiration behind creating this documentary, urging his fans to watch it. In his tweets, he expressed that the documentary aims to convey a message that opposes the harmful aspects of masculinity often associated with toxic ideals.
If you think about it, that itself is a very interesting idea, as being in a sport that requires you to fight other men for a living, Adesanya and other fighters are often associated with masculinity. So, it would be fascinating to see how the makers address this conflict. The documentary is written and directed by Zoe McIntosh, and according to IMDb, it stars Adesanya himself, his coach Eugene Bareman, and Janet Redmond.
How to watch ‘Stylebender’, documentary of Israel Adesanya?
The eagerly awaited documentary revolving around Israel Adesanya’s career had its exclusive premiere at the New York City Tribeca Film Festival. The film has a runtime of approximately one hour and forty-two minutes. Izzy was there with his coach, Eugene Bareman, to be a part of the documentary’s debut at the prestigious film festival.
He announced that the documentary will be released in select theaters on Sept. 28. Unfortunately for the MMA fans out there, the ‘Stylebender’ documentary is currently not available online. However, the fighter has disclosed that many online streaming platforms have reached out to him. “There were a few people; there were some people from Netflix and Paramount. I don’t mind. Hulu, Disney+, Prime, whoever wants to put it out,” said Adesanya.
In a sport like MMA, one would argue that almost every fighter deserves to get recognition from the fans and the community. So, which other fighter deserves a movie to be made about their life story? Tell us in the comments!