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UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has always put his parents on a pedestal. Stylebender paid a lovely tribute to his father Oluwafemi Adesanya by flaunting a t-shirt with 'Dadesanya' printed across the front during his UFC 259 press conference. Dadesanya is the nickname Izzy gave his father.
Israel Adesanya came face to face with his opponent and UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz for the first time at the UFC 259 press conference. The pair engaged in an interesting conversation during the process, and when the fighters were finally squared-up next to each other, Stylebender proudly flaunted the white t-shirt that read "Dadesanya."
ESPN recognized Israel Adesanya's gesture of respect in an Instagram post. Stylebender took to Twitter to share his thoughts and posted a picture with his mother. Adesanya expressed his gratitude in some heartwarming captions.
'Give your loved ones flowers while they're here to receive them.'
'If flowers are too much then just gift them a Porsche.'
Israel Adesanya could make history by becoming the fifth two-division champion in UFC history. The New Zealander will face champion Jan Blachowicz for the undisputed UFC light heavyweight championship at UFC 259 on March 6. This is the biggest opportunity in Adesanya's MMA career, so this was quite a platform and moment to honor his parents.
How Dadesanya's advice helped Israel Adesanya against Paulo Costa
Israel Adesanya and his father no longer live in the same city. However, Dadesanya keeps his son updated about things during his training camp and also helps with breaking down his opponents.
Ahead of Stylebender's middleweight title defense against Paulo Costa at UFC 253, the champ flaunted bright pink hair that became a subject of trolling on the internet. Adesanya dumped the look during the fight week and ended up defeating Costa via second-round knockout. He later revealed in the post-fight press conference that Dadesanya's advice led him to get rid of the pink hair. Dadesanya told Izzy that the bright pink color may have helped his opponent in figuring out his head position even after getting his vision compromised due to Adesanya's jabs.
“Shoutout to my dad. He said I’m going to blind him, I’m going to blind him with my jab and when he’s compromised with one eye, and if I take the other eye out, if he sees that pink hue, he’ll still know where my head is. He’ll know that’s where my head is and he’ll just aim for the pink hue. I was like 'you’re right.' Like a good boy, I listened to my dad. He’s a smart man,” Israel Adesanya said.
