One mixed martial star is ready to become a WWE Superstar. Israel Adesanya, a UFC star who is the reigning middleweight champion, recently spoke to BT Sport and said he plans to join WWE down the road. The 32-year-old revealed being in WWE is something he has wanted to do for a while.
“Definitely, that’s something I’ll try my hand at later on. Just for fun,” Adesanya said, per Thirsty for News. “I’m not saying it’s going to be a full-time job, but I’m definitely going to jump in the WWE or something along that line, just for the entertainment factor. I grew up, jumping off the couch, broke my arm doing shooting stars.”
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This comes on the heels of Bellator star Valerie Loureda signing a contract with WWE. She will start her training next month. WWE also signed YouTuber and boxer Logan Paul, and he could face The Miz at SummerSlam at the end of this month. Adesanya has always been a fan of WWE. Before his fight against Jard Cannonier at UFC 276 on Saturday, Adesanya paid tribute to The Undertaker by coming out to his entrance while wearing his hat.
“That came to me last Tuesday,” Adesanya told Sports Illustrated. “During my workouts with my team, I normally have WWE ‘Attitude Era’ theme music playing. So this made sense for me. The whole UFC production helped bring my vision to life.” During his entrance, Adesanya also carried the urn which was made famous by Paul Bearer. “I wanted to put him in the dirt,” Adesanya said. “Jared is a tough opponent, a zombie you can’t put away. Funny enough, Vince McMahon and Triple H from WWE were in the front row.”
The entrance worked for Adesanya as he successfully defended his title at UFC 276 with a unanimous decision victory. He improves his MMA record to 23-1 and has been UFC Middleweight Champion since April 2019. “Cannonier is tough, and he’s very smart,” Adesanya said. “I was looking forward to the battle of the minds, a battle of the gameplans. He’s a formidable opponent. I’ve called him the dark horse of the division for a long time, and he proved that again in this fight.”
