Israel Adesanya is all set to make yet another title defense at UFC 293. Ahead of his fight against Sean Strickland, there have been a lot of questions regarding the middleweight champion. As such, Izzy has finally hit back with some shots of his own.
As is the tradition, the fighters on the main card make an appearance at a press conference before the fight. In what was expected to be a fiery showdown, the press conference delivered and then some. Notably, Sean Strickland came through with a few brutal jabs at the champion. However this time, the two-time middleweight champ retorted with a few of his own.
Responding to comments about being a Chinese sellout, Adesanya said, “He’s talking about me being a sellout, when did you sign with Monster Energy? When did you sell your soul?” Further, Izzy continued, “Isn’t it funny that every time I have to fight someone, Monster signs them immediately and becomes a fan of them? You know why, cause I didn’t sell out. I didn’t sell my soul. What did you have to do to that pigheaded f**k?”
Here, Israel points out how his last few opponents have coincidentally been sponsored by Monster Energy. Be it Strickland, Alex Pereira, or even Robert Whittaker in the past, all the fighters seem to be in Monster’s books. As for Adesanya himself, he harbors a deep dislike for the main man behind the brand, Hans Molenkamp.
Israel Adesanya and other fighters have renounced Monster Energy
Previously, we have seen numerous instances where Izzy has thrown away cans of Monster Energy or just straight up hidden them with his belt. What initially started at UFC 243, Adesanya has since been dismissive of the UFC $54.9 billion business partner. Notably, Izzy took things one step further at UFC 287.
After knocking out Alex Pereira and winning back his title, Izzy had a busy couple of minutes inside the Octagon. Firstly, he celebrated with a bow and arrow celebration before going on to mock Pereira’s son. Further, Adesanya proceeded to make a cross on the Monster Energy symbol in the center of the Octagon, before flipping his middle fingers at it. Among all the things that had occurred that night, this particular instance caught many people’s attention.
Izzy is NOT a fan of Monster 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/Nl2gr3IAWS
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) April 10, 2023
Other than Stylebender, a lot of other fighters have also renounced the energy drink sponsor. Previously, Dominick Cruz vented his frustrations regarding Monster Energy and more specifically, its official, Hans Molenkamp. According to Cruz, Molenkamp would force sponsored athletes to take pictures with him, which would then fetch him likes and comments on social media. Thus, in his post-fight interview after UFC 259, Cruz called out Molenkamp for a charity fight.
Similar to Cruz, Israel is unwilling to rep the brand and hates what their sponsorship entails. Thus, Izzy along with Alexander Volkanovski has opted to sign with Logan Paul and KSI’s PRIME Hydration instead. Moreover, with his hate for Monster becoming more and more apparent, it will be interesting to see what Izzy does after his latest fight.