Israel Adesanya shares the correct pronunciation of his name

Israel Adesanya is a name fight fans have been uttering a lot lately, but many of us have been saying his name wrong. Speaking on a recent episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Adesanya explained how his last name is actually pronounced (via Jed I. Goodman on Twitter).

I diss on ya.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/t7inVaLgz0

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 7, 2019

As this clip reveals, the emphasis is placed a little differently than many of us knew. Let’s all make sure to say it properly going forward.

Israel Adesanya last fought in the main event of UFC 243, when he knocked out Robert Whittaker to capture the UFC middleweight title. This victory carried him to a sterling 18-0 as a professional mixed martial artist.

With his title win over Whittaker in the books, Adesanya now has his sights set on undefeated UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa. The pair had a heated exchange after the UFC 243 main event, and are expected to fight in early 2020 — potentially in March in Las Vegas, according to BJPENN.com’s Cole Shelton.

While Brazil’s Costa is at the forefront of Adesanya’s focus, the Nigerian-Kiwi champion has also been teasing a fight with UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones. The pair have become heated rivals, and could well fight sometime in the near future. 

“I wouldn’t say he’s the ultimate, but he’s definitely a boss on the game I want to play against,” Adesanya told The Mac Life recently of a fight with Jones. “Raider Stadium, Las Vegas, that’s where it’s going to happen. I decided in July when I was in Vegas.

“The middleweight division, it’s getting stacked,” Adesanya added. “I like Cannonier right now, [Paulo] Costa I have to take care of, and a few others, I’m saying 2021 [vs Jones]. I’m fighting. Probably early, yeah. The way I fight, six fights in 18 months, obviously I had a long break. It’s harder when you become champion, so much weight to move fast, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”

Whatever the case, there are big fights on the horizon for Israel Adesanya. Let’s make sure we say his name correctly when we talk about them.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/11/2019.