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Israel Adesanya is willing to give up on his dream of headlining a UFC event in New Zealand.
In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, the 32-year-old Kiwi claimed the New Zealand government tried to disrupt his teammate Dan Hooker's fight at UFC 266.
Hooker and City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman were questioned by Auckland police after a journalist spotted them leaving a gym. As per the city's Alert Level 4 restrictions, individuals are not allowed to train at indoor facilities like gyms, even if it's empty. Since then, Hooker has been training at his home, which has hindered his fight camp.
Infuriated by how Hooker's plans to compete at UFC 266 were being sabotaged, Adesanya said:
"The constant effort to stifle, to break up, to disrupt our team City Kickboxing from helping team captain Dan 'Hangman' get ready for his fight, that pi**ed me off the most. If it was me, I already know, they don't like me, the bureaucrats of this fu***** country... also, they are racists, some of them are fu***** racists, of course, they don't want a black boy representing New Zealand but you're doing this to Dan 'Hangman' Hooker... Dan drapes his country over his shoulders at the weigh-ins, on the walkout, he puts this country on his back."
Hooker is set to face Nasrat Haqparast during this weekend's UFC 266 prelims. Both men have experienced trouble securing visas to fight in the US. After the New Zealander sorted his issues, fans await further news of the German's visa situation.
Watch Israel Adesanya's video below:
Israel Adesanya on New Zealand government being dismissive of MMA
Israel Adesanya claimed several other sports teams were beneficiaries of certain exemptions that allowed them to participate in sporting activities. That's despite the fact that the country was under a strict lockdown.
The UFC middleweight champion criticized the New Zealand government for not giving enough importance to the sport of MMA. He also vowed to never fight in the country again.
"They don't understand that we're the biggest sporting team out of New Zealand right now. I'm not talking in history because we're only just starting, but right now, putting New Zealand on the map. We're the ones bringing eyes to New Zealand. You'll never see me fight in New Zealand ever again, ever again. That's me. I'm done. All that money they can get from somewhere else, from rugby, from cricket and all the people they've been giving exemptions to, but for me, you'll never ever see me fighting (in New Zealand). And that was one of my dreams. One of my dreams was to headline a stadium in my backyard. That dream is dead," said Israel Adesanya.
