Israel Adesanya's $25,000 bet on Zhang Zhilei vs. Joseph Parker raises questions about his loyalty among fans - "Gotta support the Chinese bro"

Israel Adesanya has placed a $25,000 bet on his fellow New Zealander Joseph Parker to win against Zhang Zhilei in their heavyweight clash in Riyadh. The 35-year-old displayed his wager on his Instagram handle earlier today.

Given 'The Last Stylebender's' history with China, many fans questioned the former UFC middleweight champion for not backing Zhilei for the matchup.

The Nigerian-born Kiwi spent a notable portion of his kickboxing career competing in Chinese circuits, where he was known as 'The Black Dragon'. Furthermore, in various media segments, Adesanya has accepted that he has embraced Chinese culture.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, the fighter even credited the time he spent in the East Asian nation as a driving factor in molding him into the fighter that he is today.

Hence fight fans had a field day with Adesanya after revealing the bet, calling him out for being disloyal to China.

Check a few fan reactions below:

@dironho_124 wrote:

"Gotta support Chinese bro."

@stricklandmajor wrote:

"Your long lost brother Zhilei Zhang is going to butcher him up. Should've rode with the home team."

@3.yerr_ wrote:

Izzy, what happened to fighting for China?

@hervembav wrote:

"Against your Chinese brother?"

Screenshots courtesy of @stylebender on Instagram

According to Stake, the Chinese national is a -222 favorite over the New Zealander (+180 underdog) for the matchup.

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Israel Adesanya's advice to fans for Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou

Israel Adesanya believes Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou's heavyweight clash at the Kingdom Arena will be a high-octane spectacle.

While he refrained from predicting a winner for the contest, during a recent segment on his YouTube channel, the UFC star shared a stark advice for fight fans. He said:

"I know 'AJ' can box. 'AJ' is a specialist, but I know Francis can fight. Again, he showed it in his last boxing fight that he could beat, if not the best, one of the best boxers of this generation or ever... I have a weird feeling that you don't want to blink in this fight... [I think there is going to be a lot of activity in this fight] I think so. Especially the way 'AJ' fought in his last fight."

Catch Israel Adesanya's comments below (9:48):

However, per the odds makers at Stake, the former two-time unified heavyweight boxing champion is a -313 favorite over 'The Predator' (+210 underdog) for the matchup.