Israel Adesanya pleads guilty to drunk driving charge in New Zealand

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya pled guilty to a drunk driving charge on Monday in New Zealand.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Adesanya was charged with driving a car with 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, which is over the legal limit of 50 milligrams. The alleged incident happened on August 19, which was just weeks before his title defense against Sean Strickland.

Following Adesanya appearing in court, he released a statement to the Herald apologizing for his actions.

“I want to apologize to the community, my family, and my team for the decision I made to get behind the wheel after drinking at dinner,” Adesanya said in a statement provided to the Herald. “I was pulled over and gave an evidentiary blood test. The reading was 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. I am disappointed with my decision to drive, It was wrong. I know that people might follow me and I want them to know I do not think this behavior is acceptable.”

Israel Adesanya’s lawyer Karl Trotter sought that no conviction be entered, and this was granted by the judge, as 80 milligrams is only slightly over the threshold for being charged. Trotter is now seeking a discharge without conviction for Adesanya at sentencing on January 10.

If Israel Adesanya does get convicted, the maximum penalty for the drunk driving charge is a term of imprisonment of three months or a fine of $4500.

Adesaya last fought back at UFC 293 as he suffered a lopsided decision loss to Sean Strickland to lose his middleweight title. It was ‘The Last Stylebender’s’ first chance at defending his belt again after he reclaimed it back in April with a KO win over Pereira.

Since the loss, Adesanya has called for a rematch with Strickland and is hopeful it will come to fruition.