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Israel Adesanya and the entire team at Auckland's City Kickboxing have been going through a tough time following the passing of one of their own.
New Zealand's rising mixed martial artist and Adesanya's fellow City Kickboxing fighter Fau Vake passed away in the last week of May after being critically injured in an assault in the early hours of the morning on Symonds Street in Central Auckland. The 25-year-old father of one was in the hospital for a week before succumbing to his fatal injuries.
In the wake of his passing, Israel Adesanya has shared multiple memories of Fau Vake in the form of pictures and videos on his Instagram story, including a beautifully penned post on his feed. Now that he is done and dusted with the UFC 263 title fight against Marvin Vettori, Israel Adesanya has shared another heartfelt message for their "fallen brother."
"Whenever we head into battle, our fallen brothers ride with us. Thank you Fau Vake #Fauever" Izzy wrote on social media.
The third image in the post where Israel Adesanya has his head touching the mat with his UFC middleweight belt in front of him is of the moment right after the victory.
Adesanya was speaking to Joe Rogan for the post-fight interview. Before getting into the formalities of the regular questions and answers, he took a moment to pay his respects to Fau Vake and dedicate the fight to his deceased friend's memory.
Israel Adesanya criticizes the New Zealand government for the handling of Fau Vake's death
The UFC middleweight champion, who defended his title for the third time on Saturday in a feud-fuelled rematch with Marvin Vettori, is not a man who often comments on politics. However, the UFC 263 press conference saw a different side of 'The Last Stylebender'.
After claiming in the post-fight interview that Fau Vake was murdered in the incident, Israel Adesanya slammed his country's government for not having stringent laws against blindshot assaults and directly requested NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to look into the matter.
Israel Adesanya suggested that there should be a 20-year standard prison sentence for assault with a deadly weapon. New Zealand law currently penalizes those charged under 'common assault' with a maximum of six months in prison or up to $4000 fine, and in more serious cases, up to one year in prison.
