UFC legend Michael Bisping has claimed Israel Adesanya's arrest is "nothing" compared to Conor McGregor's 2018 bus attack.
Adesanya was hoping to retain his UFC middleweight title in a grudge match with Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in New York, but came up short after being stopped in the final round. 'The Last Stylebender' now faces a rebuild ahead of a potential revenge mission and travelled home to New Zealand from the Big Apple.
But the former champion was arrested at the airport at around 2pm local time on Wednesday after allegedly bringing knuckle dusters through airport security. A spokesperson for Adesanya provided an update on the situation, adding: "Israel was handed a gift by a fan, which he put in his luggage. When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item, and co-operated with authorities. He has complied accordingly, with that the matter was dismissed and he is on his way home."
Former UFC champion Bisping has claimed that Adesanya's alleged arrest was nothing more than an oversight and does not expect it to have any impact on his career in the octagon. " What Izzy did there is nothing compared what Conor, myself, Jon Jones or Rampage did," Bisping said when reacting to news of Adesanya's arrest on his YouTube channel.
"Jon Jones headbutted a police car, car crashes, the belt stripped, smashing a Bentley into a lamppost, hitting a car with a pregnant lady in the car. The point I'm making is, he shouldn't have gone through the airport with knuckledusters, but it's just a little oversight. If he didn't know, he didn't know!"
McGregor infamously threw a trolley at a bus containing rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, which injured a number of people including UFC star Michael Chiesa who was cut by broken glass. The Irishman was later arrested before being charged for three counts of assault, and was ordered to carry out five days of community service and attend anger management classes.
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Adesanya is unlikely to face further action after being cautioned and will now be taking down time with a view to returning in 2023. The Nigerian lost to Pereira for the third time, having also been defeated twice during their kickboxing rivalry in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
He will now likely be handed an immediate rematch with Pereira in the new year, and believes he is capable of exacting his revenge. “I’ll watch the fight again,” Adesanya said on the MMA Hour. "I’ll fight him again. I’ll probably fight him two more times. “I can beat him. I know I can beat him. You’ve seen I can beat him. He just — I won’t say luck, f*** luck — he just invested well. A good game plan. He’s a good fighter, but I know it’s my ego, maybe. Sure. But I’m allowed. I just believe I’m better.”
