The Last Stylebender moved to New Zealand from Nigeria with his family at the tender age of 11 and attended Rotura Boys’ High School.
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His transition to Kiwi life, however, wasn’t the easiest as he was bullied by several kids.
Some of the bullying was of a racial nature and even made its way to the Adesanya home.
One child, in particular, repeatedly cycled past Adesanya’s family home to yell sickening slurs – which Israel got sick and tired of and put an end to at school.
The former middleweight champion told SunSport: “My first fight I can ever remember?
“I have to go back to when I was very young – primary school or boarding school.
“I’d say the first ever fight in New Zealand I can remember clearly was some kid who kept riding by my house hurling racial slurs.”
Adesanya, 33, made the kid pay for his words after he was abused to his face at school days after he was berated at home.
He recalled: “Then on the Monday, at school, he just came up to me and just did the same thing to my face.
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“And I was having a bad day anyway, so I just whooped his a**e when I was crying.”
Adesanya, of course, had his fair share of rumbles with his siblings – in particular younger brother David.
He jokingly said: “Those weren’t fights, those were ass whippings.”
David replied: “That’s a lie.”
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Adesanya will be back in action early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 287 in Miami.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi will renew his rivalry with defending champion Alex Pereira, who ended his reign as 185lb king last November.
Defeat at Madison Square Garden was Adesanya’s THIRD to Poatan, with the first two taking place in the kickboxing world.