Israel Adesanya reflects on his iconic UFC 243 entrance before title fight with Robert Whittaker: "I express myself authentically"

UFC 243 was one of the greatest moments of Israel Adesanya's career, defined by two instances. The first was a one-of-a-kind entrance, where he took part in a dance number with a breakdancing group on his way to the octagon. The second was his performance against then middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

However, it was the first instance that Adesanya recalled in his sitdown with fellow middleweight striker Michael 'Venom' Page. According to 'The Last Stylebender,' he has never limited his self-expression, and his UFC 243 entrance was an example of that, which is an experience he feels Page can relate to.

"People don't understand how hard it is, cause look, I did the walkout, [UFC] 243 with Robert [Whittaker] and people were like, 'I don't know how you do that before the fight.' I was, like, on my way up I wanted to make sure I expressed myself authentically. So that way, those who gravitated towards you, those who are fans of dancing or anime or whatever, they feel like, yeah, they're like, 'I see one of myselves or one of us up there being a bad*ss.' So, you do the same thing."

Check out Israel Adesanya recounting his UFC 243 entrance (3:05):

UFC 243 became, in some ways, Adesanya's magnum opus. He entered the octagon as an undefeated phenom and the then UFC interim middleweight champion. Meanwhile, Whittaker was the defending undisputed champion, who had scored back-to-back wins over the monstrous Yoel Romero.

In one of his best-ever performances, Adesanya sniped Whittaker, intercepting his lunges into range with devastating counterpunches, knocking him down badly in round one before knocking him out in round two on Australian soil.

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Israel Adesanya has a penchant for flashy entrances

UFC 243 isn't the only pay-per-view to feature Israel Adesanya's taste for pageantry. At UFC 276, he took on Jared Cannonier in what turned out to be his final successful middleweight title defense. On his way to the cage, Adesanya walked to the Undertaker's theme song.

Moreover, he also wore a black hat and carried an urn, both of which were items widely used by the WWE legend during his professional wrestling career. It's among Adesanya's most memorable UFC entrances but a rarity, given UFC CEO Dana White's alleged distaste for showmanship.