New Zealand and Israel Adesanya‘s feud keeps raging. Since New Zealand officially barred mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters from practicing during the COVID-19 outbreak, Adesanya and New Zealand have been unable to get along quite well. On the other hand, New Zealand made a variety of provisions to ensure that rugby and cricket continued to operate freely during that time.
After the death of his training partner, Fau Vake, who was the victim of a sucker punch case that resulted in the offender receiving only three years in jail, the way he felt regarding the nation and its organizations was seriously impaired. The UFC Middleweight Champion was not shy in calling out politicians and the media for their coverage of these cases, and the resulting animosity between the two parties continues to this day.
Despite Adesanya’s championship defense against Alex Pereira at UFC 287, the New Zealand media paid him little to no regard. Derty Sesh, a rapper from Auckland who is also active on social media, drew attention to the bizarre blackout by pointing out how tremendous the response to Izzy’s win was in every other part of the world.
“You guys f—ing s— on him and then you wonder why he doesn’t wear a f—ing New Zealand flag when he walks out any more, bro? Because of s— like that,” Sesh said on a recent podcast. “This guy is the biggest person in New Zealand, I don’t give a f— what anyone says, he is massive. He’s bigger than the prime minister, any of the bulls—, he’s bigger that Jacinda [Ardern], whatever you guys think, he is.
“He’s known by people everybody knows,” Sesh continued. “Joe Rogan, Drake, I dunno just name somebody and they know who Izzy is. And the respect he’s given when he comes back here by our media is just s—, bro. It’s f—king bulls—t.”