Israel Adesanya Reveals the How the Superbowl and Wrestlemania Inspired Him for the Undertaker Walkout at UFC 276
Israel Adesanya is one of the highest-paid athletes in the UFC at the moment. According to reports, ‘The Last Style Bender’ is third in the pecking order behind Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal in terms of the highest-paid in the promotion and it is easy to see why. Adesanya is an extremely unique fighter both inside and outside the octagon, which makes him extremely marketable.
A prime example of the same was his walk-out prior to his fight against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. ‘The Last Style Bender’ donned the iconic outfit of legendary WWE athlete ‘The Undertaker’ and copied his walkout. ‘Izzy’ also held an urn in his hand with Cannonier’s name inscribed on it. Adesanya has made it a tradition to blow fans away every time he walks out to the octagon and raises the bar every single time.
BAH GAWD THAT'S THE UNDERTAKER'S MUSIC! 💀@stylebender with another EPIC walkout! 🤌#UFC276 pic.twitter.com/aXXUp4v4lg
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 3, 2022
In a recent video posted on his YouTube channel, Adesanya shared his thoughts on the walkout and the inspiration behind it. He said, “Like I said – It felt big, felt WrestleMania, felt Super Bowl. And I wanted to show out. I wanted to create a show like, this is not just about fighting. It’s about entertainment as well. And yeah, I felt like I did just that. That was fun.”
‘The Last Style Bender’ continued, “It was fun to just even channel The Undertaker, a character that I’ve watched for years in wrestling. And then, the way everything just played out, having, Money in the Bank, I think, was that same night. And then people from WWE were at the fight. Yeah, it was cool.”
Was Israel Adesanya criticized unfairly for his performance at UFC 276?
In the buildup to the fight against Cannonier, Adesanya stated that he would make the fight look easy and secure a finish as well. However, the actual performance was far from it.
This has left ‘The Last Style Bender’ on the receiving end of abuse from fans for being a ‘boring fighter’. While he did not get the finish he promised, Adesanya did everything he had to do to retain his belt. ‘The Last Style Bender’ will definitely not risk losing the belt by making reckless moves just to get a finish.
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