A massive anime fan himself, Israel Adesanya reacts to Mauricio Ruffy being inspired by One Piece

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya reacted to Mauricio Ruffy's pre-fight stance, which appeared to be inspired by an anime character.

In his recent UFC outing, Ruffy delivered one of the craziest spinning heel kick knockouts against King Green at UFC 313 in the first round to secure victory this past Saturday. This stretches his MMA career record to 12-1. The wild knockout left fans and fighters alike astonished, and the Brazilian is gaining huge praise for his performance.

ESPN MMA showcased Ruffy’s pre-fight stance, which is inspired by One Piece protagonist Monkey D. Luffy.

This side-by-side comparison caught the attention of ‘The Last Stylebender’, who is a hardcore anime fan. Adesanya reacted to the post with fire and other emojis:

“🔥😤😤😤🔥.”

Check out Israel Adesanya’s comments below:

Israel Adesanya’s comment. [Screenshot courtesy: @stylebender on Instagram]

Adesanya is arguably the greatest anime fan in MMA. He has often showcased his admiration for anime characters and series, despite fighters like Sean Strickland criticizing him for his interests. The former two-time middleweight champion’s nickname is also inspired by the anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

As for his MMA career, Adesanya’s last outing was against Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Fight Night 250. The Nigerian-Kiwi started strong but was knocked out in the second round.

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Israel Adesanya reacts to Mauricio Ruffy’s viral knockout victory against King Green at UFC 313

Mauricio Ruffy’s highlight spinning heel kick knockout against King Green at UFC 313 earned him the Performance of the Night bonus and an additional $50,000.

Israel Adesanya posted a video of himself reacting to Ruffy’s spectacular knockout. The former middleweight champion looked amazed and praised Ruffy, saying:

"Wow! N*, No! N*, No! It was a delayed one, too, man! My god! F* hell! That was beautiful. ... That was perfect, bro! Slumped him... Open up the show like that, that's crazy. Well, his stock is going up.”

Check out Israel Adesanya’s reaction and comments below:

Meanwhile, Adesanya has slipped to fourth in the middleweight rankings. In his last five fights, ‘The Last Stylebender’ had managed to secure just one win, when he reclaimed the middleweight title against Alex Pereira two years ago.