UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya loves anime and mixed martial arts. Adesanya incorporates anime references into his fighting style! In fact, his nickname “The last style bender” is a word play on a famous anime-inspired cartoon show “The last air bender”.
Adesanya pulls out styles and poses from his favorite anime, even channeling the characters mid-fight! Here’s a clip of his infamous anime antics:
Which anime character will @stylebender channel next? đ„
Find out at #UFC271 đ https://t.co/yYRt4qupV2 pic.twitter.com/bdjcXTQiNS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 12, 2022
Adesanya’s love for Japanese animation has led fans and other fighters to call him a nerd or geek! But most recently, UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland called Adesanya out for apparently “Jerking off to cartoon characters!”
Stylebender hilariously clapped back at Strickland while labeling him as an “uncultured swine”. Adesanya took issue with the fact that Strickland did not know the proper term for pornographic Japanese cartoons, which are called hentai!
Here is the hilarious Twitter row:
Lol, itâs called #Hentai you uncultured swine đ. pic.twitter.com/dOZUaCfs3x
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) June 8, 2022
Izzy reacted to Sean’s comments during an interview where he jokingly called Izzy out and condemned him for committing such frowned upon act! Israel Adesanya, who is known for being very witty took the comments into his stride and reacted with a few jokes of his own. The New Zealander further reacted to Strickland in an Instagram story, where he claimed “I’ve done it more than once”.
If Strickland manages to beat Izzy’s long-time kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at UFC 276 (Adesanya vs Cannonier undercard), he will surely be getting a shot at the middleweight belt! But getting past the crazy knockout power and skills of Pereira will be Sean Strickland’s toughest task yet.
