With the UFC becoming more mainstream, it’s no surprise that the promotion’s biggest stars like Israel Adesanya are attracting interest from the entertainment industry.
During the UFC 281 media day, Israel Adesanya was asked when he could be venturing into the film industry. He mentioned that he has turned down offers and recently turned down an offer that would have required him to film close to fight week:
“So, I mean I would’ve filmed for Creed III probably maybe two weeks ago but I turned it down. That’s like the fourth one I’ve turned down because again, this (fighting) is what I’m doing right now. I’m great at this. I’m learning a lot at this.”
It’s not know what role the UFC middleweight champion would have played in Creed III, but that shows that he is being thought of to join big franchises and not an ordinary low-budget straight-to-DVD project.
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Creed III stars Michael B. Jordan, who plays the role of Adonis Creed. The franchise is a spin-off of the Rocky franchise and has been very successful at the box office. The first two films generated $173.6 million and $214.1 million worldwide respectively.
‘Izzy’ added that although he’s turning down projects now, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have plans to pursue entertainment ventures in the future:
“Yeah, Hollywood’s right there. It’s always going to be there. Voiceover work is right there. I have a lot of anime ideas I’m going to put out there as well with my own production company. So, all that s**** for later on. Right now, I’m one of the baddest motherf****** in this b****, so I’m gonna keep doing that.”
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Will Israel Adesanya avenge his losses to Alex Pereira?
Israel Adesanya is in a unique spot as he defends his middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 281 against a former kickboxing foe.
The history between Adesanya and Alex Pereira has made this upcoming bout very intriguing as the challenger has two wins against the reigning champion.
It will be interesting to see whether ‘Izzy’ will catch ‘Poatan’ off guard and showcase his wrestling and grappling. Despite both fighters being elite strikers, it is an MMA bout after all. Adesanya could see that as an advantage for him because of his octagon experience.