A biography for Israel Adesanyahasn’t been written yet.
“I know what I bring to the table, I know my work. That's why I'm able to push for what I want.”
“I'm not trying to be one of those guys that's bigger than everyone else in the weight class.”
“I'm real petty. I remember everything like an elephant.”
“I can't force a guy to fight.”
“My first stadium show was in China, it was a 50,000-seat stadium. I think 40,000 showed up.”
“Kids will tell me 'oh I want to be like you when I grow up,' you know. I just thought 'nah, don't be like me, be like you,' because first of all they don't really know me but second of all I understand what they're trying to say but I just let them know - be like you.”
“When I'm having fun, I'm the best in the world.”
“I'd rather be very well prepared before I move to heavyweight or light heavyweight. That's according to my own schedule - no one else's.”
“Being a big black man in China in the mainland, walking down the street, you have everyone looking at you, 'Basketball?' They don't really see a lot of us around, maybe on TV, so they're just looking.”
“There are a lot of sports that New Zealand does very well but MMA is a truly global sport and it's practiced in the farthest reaches of this earth.”
“I'm smart about the way I move. I'm smart about the way I conduct myself outside the Octagon, like who I associate myself with.”
“I've done it in kickboxing, I've done it in boxing. After you clean out a division, you move up in weight.”
“My least favorite thing or my pet peeve would be people who literally ignore the other people you're with, or the situation, and they just dive right in and cut off the conversation.”
“I've been a heavyweight in boxing, in kickboxing. I'll do it in again in MMA.”
“Aang is an Airbender, and he became the Avatar after the last one died. He has to realize his destiny as the Avatar by mastering all of the elements - earth, fire and air. For me, I feel like I'm mastering all the different styles or elements of MMA. It's my destiny to become the Avatar of this game.”
“I tried so many times to fit in but I could never ever fit in. I was always like, an outcast.”
“I do what I do for a job. This is fighting. This is a bloody sport. It's not a nice sport.”
“I'm like the only Kiwi that can fly, I'm the one with the biggest wing.”
“I'm the runt of my people.”
“I've talked about tall poppy syndrome when I see people. I used to be like, 'Why am I feeling this way? What is that person taking from me that makes me feel inadequate?' That same feeling you feel when you feel uncomfortable because people start talking about racism, lean into that feeling, don't just look away from it, because you can't pretend.”