'Agbaya ni Mi' - According to Israel Adesanya mocking Alex Pereira's son after revenge was a favour
Israel Adesanya, a mixed martial artist from Nigeria and New Zealand who now holds the middleweight championship of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has responded to criticism over mocking the son of Brazil's Alex Pereira.
The two fighters previously faced off in the Octagon on April 9 at UFC 287, where Adesanya, a Nigerian star, prevailed via second-round knockout.
After knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287, Adesanya gave a legendary post-fight celebration.
Standing over his defeated adversary, "The Last Stylebender" pretending to be shooting three arrows into his chest, one for each victory "Poatan" had over him.
His subsequent action was a little more contentious: he pointed in the direction of Pereira's teenage son in the audience before looking for him and falling to the ground in imitation of his father being knocked out.
After winning, Adesanya faked being knocked out in front of Pereira's son to get revenge for the boy's earlier imitation of the same action.
In Adesanya's defense, the youngster had already knocked out Pereira in Brazil by doing something similar to him.
According to his most recent video, Adesanya has no regrets regarding the situation.
Adesanya took to his official Twitter account to post a response to mocking Adesanya's son.
He said, “Charity begins at home. Respect your fellow man…especially your elders.🦣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 CAPITAL AGBAYA NI MI!!
Israel Adesanya on mocking Alex Pereira son
Adesanya reiterated his choice to make fun of Pereira's son in a video posted to his YouTube channel, citing the incident as a lesson in life.
He said, “I was just like, ‘Where is he? I’m going to find him.
“And I see his kid then his sister, I think, was holding them. She was holding them because they were crying. So I was just like, bang!
“‘He’s only a kid!’ I’m like, ‘And the f— what?
“If I had a son and he came to the cage after 287 and then start to do that next to Pereira, I’d be like, ‘What the f— are you doing? Come here. Apologize — apologize to that man.
“Guy knocked me out in his home country and then you see your kid doing that and you don’t have the discipline to scold him.
"Then again before 281, you’re in your car and you’re like, ‘Look what my son did.’ If you’re not going to teach your kids manners and respect, I will.
“I did him a favor. I did that kid a favor. Now, he has a life lesson that he can hold on to forever and just remember that. I’m glad I did it. F— them kids.”
Adesanya is waiting to see if South African Dricus du Plessis beats Robert Whittaker in the last eliminator before agreeing to fight him.
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