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UFC star Israel Adesanya's post-fight celebrations have a separate fan base of their own. Be it the NSFW gesture after his win against Paulo Costa or his theatric freestyle dance that involved mimicking gunfire following his knockout victory over Robert Whittaker, Adesanya has demonstrated a proven ability to penetrate pop culture.
However, nothing quite compares to the celebration he pulled off after securing the long-sought-after win over rival Alex Pereira at UFC 287. 'The Last Stylebender' conjured an imaginary bow and released three invisible arrows over the defeated Pereira, depicting the three times he lost to the Brazilian across two sports.
The gesture, a significant part of his winning ritual went viral online, and football star Mohamed Salah seems to have recently adopted the unique celebration routine. The Liverpool F.C. sensation has delivered some signature gestures of his own, including the yoga pose or his famous point-to-the-sky celebrations. Most recently, Salah mimicked Adesanya's celebration after scoring a goal against Brentford F.C.
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Speaking about the celebration in an interview on Men in Blazers, Salah said:
"I think I was watching the UFC [and] it was [Alex] Pereira against Israel [Adesanya]. When he won the second fight against Pereira he celebrated like that. Pereira I think beat him in the first one. I like the celebration and that's why I did it... I am a UFC fan."
Catch Salah's comments below (4:10):
Israel Adesanya's coach reveals Sean Strickland's loss bothered him more than the Dricus du Plessis' loss
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is experiencing the sting of his second straight loss for the first time in his professional career. Adesanya dropped a unanimous decision loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and lost to Dricus du Plessis via submission at UFC 305.
'The Last Stylebender' was outclassed by Strickland in the striking department, as the American pressured Adesanya for five rounds to clinch the middleweight championship. Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman reacted to both losses during a recent episode of Who the Fook Are These Guys?, claiming that the Strickland loss bothered Adesanya more than the recent UFC 305 setback. Eugene said:
"The Strickland loss, he’ll never get over. You just fought badly, and it was unexplainable. It’s intangible. It’s not measurable what caused it... But the Dricus fight, he was doing well. It was a great contest, and he got outmaneuvered. He got outdone... You can figure out exactly what happened, follow the path, figure out went wrong, and it’s very traceable... Any loss is hard, but trust me this one’s a lot easier to take than the Strickland one." [H/t: MMA Junkie]
Catch Bareman's comments below (36:45):
