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Oh, man.
Search this video
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Did it clear your sinuses?
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Ah, I can smell everything.
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Hey, what's going on and happy Thanksgiving, everybody?
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For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Israel Adesanya.
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He's one of the UFC's most accomplished and dominant fighters, having previously defended his middleweight championship belt five times.
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Sure, he may walk into today's interview with a professional record of 23 and two, but how will he fare going the 10-round distance with the wings of death?
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I guess only time will tell.
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Israel Adesanya, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
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So, you did an episode of Truth or Dab about a year ago with Anthony Joshua and basically bodied our spiciest wings.
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How confident are you going into today's challenge?
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Um, that was then and this is now, but I just had a fight like 2 days ago, so yesterday I found out I I'm through having a spicy chicken sandwich that I might have some cuts under my tongue or around my tongue, so, yeah. We'll find out.
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Are you ready to get started? bro. Let's go. Let's go. Cheers.
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You have You always have to wait for like the the surprise kicker.
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That's someone who's been around, yep.
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Part two or part three, but this is like this is like There we go. I'm actually hungry. I can still wing it.
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So, my voice still hasn't fully recovered from Saturday night's event at Madison Square Garden.
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Yeah, went to the fight, took the team, yeah.
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And I know it wasn't the result that you were looking for, but it was still just an epic fight, epic performance.
1:53
And with today being Thanksgiving, the line that you had in your post-fight press conference about being grateful really stood out to me.
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What is it that you're grateful for and why do you embrace moments like these no matter the outcome? Okay.
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It's still good, but I just got like the part two.
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Um what am I grateful for? Yeah.
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Just the moment like just seeing looking around and seeing a lot of Kiwis, all the people from back home.
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I didn't even get to go to Times Square cuz I can't really go to Times Square like I I I used to.
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And my face is plastered on the [ __ ] screens.
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And in Madison Square Garden, I dis saying is in headlights.
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And yeah, so I'm just grateful for these moments and grateful for the opportunity.
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Grateful for the life I live.
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The cuz I mean I I wasn't It wasn't long ago, but I still remember like, you know, you know, can I get five bucks on number on number seven at the gas pump, that kind of stuff.
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So now yeah, being in this situation, you just have to be grateful for everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, everything.
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If I start speaking in tongues, forgive me.
3:01
What's the one that um one of my favorites is um Khaled Oh, yeah.
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If I quit, don't mean I give You don't give up. Yeah, I like that. That's mentality. You speak to that. You understand that.
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You're You're playing 3D chess like Khaled. Facts. 4D. 4D. It's not even here. We up there. So far, so good.
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Looks like you're enjoying the wings. I'm hungry, man. I can see that.
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Well, I'm trying to allow you to let me say my show.
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And I don't want Nigerian like this is even like appalling.
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This is the first wing and this is appalling in my culture.
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Right, you got to represent.
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This should They're re-charred. The wing is shiny to me.
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Look at the cartilage, all that.
3:41
What would you say was your greatest press conference bar?
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Like you seem to approach these things almost as a rapper with a cypher.
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My favorite was the uh ignoramus buffoonus, if you recall that one. one of Costa.
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What's the one I got What's my one? Let me see.
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Um I think nosebleeds and nosebleeds is classic. Yeah. that.
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And actually, funny enough, today might be the anniversary, actually.
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So, today, 8 years ago, I believe, I was in Melbourne, back then at Etihad Stadium, while I watched um Ronda Rousey versus Holly Holm from the nosebleeds, and I saw Robert Whittaker fight there against Uriah Hall.
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And then, how many years later, I fought in the same arena, now Marvel Stadium, and I told him back then I was in the nosebleeds, and I'm going to make his nose bleed. Yeah. And I did what? I made his nose bleed. Bars.
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Are you ready to move on here?
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Oh, I got bets number three on that one.
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how you get me comfortable.
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You get me You're just chilling like, "Ah, we're having a good time.
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It's just a barbecue, little fake leaves, all that. We're at the cookout. We're at the cookout. Let's go.
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I like how he looks at you before he takes a bite.
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It's like he's trying to like I'm sizing you up. Yeah, exactly. I can feel the energy.
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He's just like, I'll see how you going This is my face-off, you know? This is my staredown. His element. Welcome to my arena. Welcome to my arena.
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do this like every Is this every week? Every week. Psychopath.
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For like 8 years, I know.
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You know Dan Hooker, right? Yeah.
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He's a You got You got to get him on here.
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So, he fought um this really good fighter, the phenom Oh, what's his name? The Peruvian Prince. Can't remember his name. Forgive me. On Saturday. kids Yeah, on Saturday.
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And the kid is known for like leglocks.
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Yeah, he kept trying to get down there.
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He kept trying to bring him round, when he finally got it, I I I if I recall, he got an ankle lock.
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And then, he got like a knee bar, and he just like cranked.
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And I remember the guy's face like scraping.
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You see Dan just sitting there like with his leg out like literally his leg being hyperextended, and Dan's just sitting there, hitting him in the body a few times.
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And the guy is there like cranking for his life for maybe about 10 seconds and the guy goes Like, is this guy not?
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And Dan is sitting there just like cool. He's a psychopath.
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That's how he'd be on this show, just whatever sauce.
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He's white as well, so you know he's going to go red. But he's a psychopath. He will endure.
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He His His fortitude I don't know if he doesn't like spicy food. He lived in Thailand. Yeah, I'm sure he has. He's got to have Yeah. Some foundation there. They'll be fine.
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Yeah, he lived in Thailand for a while.
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I'm waiting for that build where that music comes on.
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Okay, I can smell this one.
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You know that build where it's like boom uh-oh. Yeah. That like airy music. Yeah.
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Call that a little metal on metal.
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That's what we call that.
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We call that one the scrape. Yeah, the scrape, yeah.
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That's what I'm waiting for. So far, so good. So far, so good. smell this one though. Smell the fire.
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Yeah, I can smell the spice on this one. How the cuts holding up?
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A problem or not a problem? There we go.
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I'm glad I I came here hungry, so maybe that makes me want to attack these more. There, I can see it. Yeah.
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So I'm actually fascinated by New Zealand's King in the Ring of Venice single elimination kickboxing tournament that sounds like something straight out of a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie.
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Can you pull back the curtain on what that event is like from a fighter's perspective of having to go back to back to back in a matter of hours for a title? Very good question. So, hold on.
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Um When you do King in the Ring, right?
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You have to fight if you win three times in one night or if you come second.
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Um when you have one fight, even if it's kickboxing, three-minute rounds, three rounds, after the fight, guess what happens?
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You get an adrenaline dump. Okay?
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So, I'm glad I had people in my corner like Doug Viney, who's one of our coaches. Shout out to Doug. Mwah.
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But one thing he said early on that night is like, "You only have one fight."
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Cuz if you don't get that fight done, those other fights don't exist.
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And that has always stuck with me and I want to flex as well.
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So, King of the Ring, I did it at two different weight classes.
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I did it at my weight, cruiserweight, and then heavyweight.
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And I won it three times.
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So, I did it cruiserweight twice, and I went up to heavyweight once, and I won it as well.
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So, just a little just so you know. Know your history. Know your history. you know. These are good so far. I'm surprised.
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I'm still waiting for that [ __ ] Okay, it's crunchy. Mhm. Mhm. She just squirted. It squirted. You saw that. Mhm. Mhm. This is Asian fusion. Yep. I can taste it.
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I lived in China for a bit. I'm not Try to smell. Bringing you back. Who does your research?
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Do you do your research or do you Okay, I see him.
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Did you set Did you get hired or did you set this whole thing up? So, where's Chris?
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Chris is the Who's the Who created this show? right there. So, Good job.
8:57
But anyways, he was looking for somebody to host it, asked me about it, and like just the way he was like, "Well, what if we interview celebrities but have them eat increasingly spicy chicken wings over the course of the interview as a way to break it down?"
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And that was like a Cupid's arrow into my brain.
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Fell in love with it, and here we are eight years later.
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Is he season 19 doing this? [ __ ] yeah. It's awesome. what I'm saying.
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I'm not I'm just glad to be finally here cuz I when we did it on COVID times, I was like, "Uh-uh, I need to do this like it for real. Got to do it for real. Well, here we are.
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The whole thing interviewing someone and making them feel uncomfortable, that you get the best content out of that.
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This I think it's all it's all kind of based off this cuz you have even Cold as Balls, Kevin Hart. That's cool as well.
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But yeah, this I think it set it all that. Yeah, yeah.
9:36
That Well, thank you for saying that. I appreciate that.
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And then let me uh pass a compliment to you is you can kind of do whatever you want.
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Like you have like an actually good YouTube channel.
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You know, like you have like an actually good YouTube channel. Thank you.
9:47
Shout out to my brother David, Frestyle Bender on YouTube. Check it out. Get that plug. Get that plug.
9:50
All right, Izzy, we have a recurring segment on our show called Explain That Gram where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram.
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We pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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So, we'll pull the picture up over here on the monitor.
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You just tell us the bigger story. Mhm.
10:04
What is the significance of the walkout you did?
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And is there one in your storied career of walkouts that It's the best one by far. Classic.
10:09
Okay, so I'll explain the story.
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This show was UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.
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It's my second time about to fight in Melbourne cuz the first time was Anderson. Let it fly. Yeah.
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And then um the first time when I was fighting Anderson, I remember I told Dana like I want to do a, you know, something for a walkout.
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Dana was like, "Nah, nah, you know, he's not really about that kind of shit."
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And I was like, "Whatever."
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And then cuz Robert was meant to headline that show.
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I ended up headlining it cuz he called in sick.
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And then when it was this time and it was me versus Robert, I was like Nah, this is my show. This is my time. 57,127 people.
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Biggest attendance to date.
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So, I came out to this track Hype to Hype.
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Came out with my boys who was getting buck.
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And it was just it just set the tone cuz I walked into that that stage, that arena, into the octagon like a king. I felt like a god.
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I just And what did I do?
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I went in there, showed off, and I showed out.
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And closed the show in a beautiful way and I defended my title for the first time. Uh Nana Helen.
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Yeah, what role did Nana Helen play in the trajectory of your fight career?
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[ __ ] I literally just got chills.
11:18
When my family moved to New Zealand, right?
11:20
Um I've always said this and I've said this ad nauseam, but it's part of my story.
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I didn't really realize being black was a problem till I moved into a Western country, the Western world.
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And people made me feel different for my skin color cuz I I see white people in Nigeria all the time.
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I never I was always just fascinated like, "Oh, that's cool. I look at your hair."
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You know, like just you're amazed.
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So, some people were like that at school with me.
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They're like, "Wow, you know, you've got cool hair, you know?"
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But most people were not.
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They were just either It's I think it's taught racism is taught. So, um it was weird.
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But Nana was one of the first people to invite my family into her home.
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So, this is the first time me seeing her in I think over 18 years.
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She's still with it, bro.
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She still lives by herself.
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She gets checked on and stuff, but she's always just she'll wink at you and give you real quick quips.
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And she watches the fights. So, Nana, I'm okay. Mwah.
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Um I should actually call her.
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But um yeah, uh she's all there with her her team of old ladies and they sit there and they watch the UFC when I fight. Yeah. Love that. Yeah. All right.
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Are you ready to move on here to the back half? You're doing great.
12:28
I'm waiting for the [ __ ] [ __ ] I think it might happen here, but maybe not. Let's see.
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Turmeric one mug, I see bit.
12:44
So, this is like it's not really oh my god, I'm going to die, but I can start to feel like the skin moist a little bit.
12:50
Yeah, it's like some physiological effects. Yeah, it's responding. My body's responding. Yes.
12:56
So, your affection for anime has been a theme throughout your career from Death Note references in the octagon to even your avatar-inspired style bender nickname. Yeah.
13:04
How would you say being a weeaboo has most served you as a mixed martial artist?
13:09
In so many different ways it's just helped me tell my own story, be the protagonist in my own story, be player one in my game.
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Like right now, okay, I've already seen the the setup for my next storyline, the hunter becomes the hunted. Uh-huh.
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And certain characters in animes as well, I draw inspiration from.
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Like when Guy Sensei who's Rock Lee's uh uh master, when he opened the eight gate they had a whole like I think maybe two episodes telling his backstory.
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And when he finally opened eighth gate and he's standing there and he's just red and got the flame and Madara's in front of him at the Great Ninja War.
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I cried actually when that moment happened, but it was yeah. It was just inspiring.
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And people say, "Oh, you're 33.
13:50
Oh, [ __ ] hell, you still trying to rap. Shut up." Yeah.
14:02
Well, I'm still waiting for the penny to drop. Mhm. Ready? That's it. Yeah.
14:13
Uh What's the best you feeling though?
14:16
So this is where it kind of changes for me.
14:19
So, like right now my tongue is a little bit on fire. My lips are numb.
14:22
Lips aren't numb, but my tongue just caught up with the Yeah.
14:25
So, I think what happens is it's like I know what to expect.
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Same with you probably, you know, because like you've already been there, you know?
14:30
So, that's what I think ends up happening is like I know what what to expect, so I'm never panicking. Yeah.
14:35
But I'm also no superhero, so I'm feeling this [ __ ] You're a human.
14:40
What do you expect there? I'm a human. still [ __ ] psycho.
14:46
What's the best piece of financial advice you've ever gotten from your father?
14:48
You know, it's not every day that a big money athlete has the benefit of being raised by an accountant. Yeah.
14:54
I'm stubborn, so when I was young, he was trying to get me to I got to get the milk. Yeah. I'm going in too.
15:00
You know, I was waiting for you, you know? Cheers. Cheers.
15:03
Thanks for having me, man. Of course, Izzy. Thank you. Cheers. Mhm. Mhm. That's sweet milk.
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That's actually delicious.
15:16
Um when I came back from China tried to get me to get a house.
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I'm like, "Oh, I don't want the responsibility of owning a house and blah blah blah blah blah. I'm too young." Stupid. Lost a lot of money.
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I mentioned when I got in the UFC, I was like, "Every time I don't listen to this man about money, I end up going broke.
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I should probably listen to this man."
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I listen to my gut as well.
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And he Every the box office with me, put it that way.
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But, um yeah, I listen to him when it comes to money because he he knows how money works. [ __ ] me, that burn. Ready? Ready. Mhm.
16:03
I think this is where it starts to ah Yeah.
16:07
This is a different And then you have job bread and motif j. Saramusa, baba. My precious. Got to feel it. Don't fight it. No. Just roll with it. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
16:37
So, people that are watching this on Thanksgiving are probably just hours away from sitting down with a turkey, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, green beans.
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When you think about a proper Nigerian feast, what are some of the non-negotiable dishes that have to be on your table at the Adesanya function?
16:53
Oh, jollof rice, standard.
16:56
So, Nigerian food Excuse me. Hold up.
17:01
I'm going to gargle a little bit. That's smart. There's levels to this. Mhm. Ah, that's better.
17:12
So, um like you have the the swallows, which are like the it's a doughy type element.
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So, you might have eba which is made from corn maze.
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You have amala pounded yam fufu semo, different types.
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And you can use those, you break it off and put it in a different type of stew.
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You can have efo riro ogbono uh fried stew, goat meat stew anything and then you I feel like this is the thing.
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Eating with your hands is different.
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Cuz we've lost our relationship with food. Yeah. I'm sorry.
17:48
I'll eat this at a restaurant.
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They'll give me fork and knife.
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I'm like, "The [ __ ] for?"
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What you want me to do with this?
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It's like, "Nah, just use your hands." I'm the guy in Nobu.
17:59
I'll be eating and I'd like I don't give A [ __ ] TANTALIZING. YOU'RE A CORRECT GUY. YOU'RE A CORRECT GUY.
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WHO TOLD WHO told you tantalizing? You did. When? Uh that's right. Good recall. I like that. I like that. Tantalizing. You get sense, my guy. You get sense.
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See, now my nose is dribbling. Oh, man. It would clear sinuses.
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Ah, I can smell everything. Well peaceful. Pain is a state of mind.
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It only affects you if you let it.
18:51
So, as someone who grew up inspired by Shaolin monks and Bruce Lee, is there a film that you think best encapsulates the experience of being a fighter? Mm, ooh.
18:59
So, Ong-Bak was the movie I watched, right?
19:03
That's the movie that I feel like made Muay Thai mainstream to the world. Excuse me.
19:09
Let's do like a whole segment with all my burps, just like Rapid fire. Yeah.
19:14
He's already given us our social clips, yeah. You're welcome.
19:17
Um one of my favorites is the the drunken master Jackie Chan.
19:20
That was a good one as well. Yeah, yeah. Classic, funny.
19:22
His movies would just just like excite me cuz he he just seemed like he didn't want to fight, but he's having fun doing it.
19:30
Yeah, his were like funny.
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Like his fight scenes are like funny. Exactly.
19:32
Like it invokes just the right emotion out of me.
19:35
It's like, "I don't want to hurt anybody. No, leave me alone." No, I'm so sorry. It's crazy.
19:47
And he did all of his own stunts, most of them.
19:49
He was Tom Cruise before Tom Cruise.
19:51
So, what we have to do to close things out a spicy turkey leg for Thanksgiving. Freshly opened. No fugazi. No fugazi. Yeah. Ooh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. No fugazi. No fugazi. Yeah. Woah.
20:31
I'm going to rub it in first. Yeah, okay.
20:32
I'll I'll join you at the party over here.
20:36
I'm going to use Let me see.
20:36
I'll use um this drumstick. Oh, smart.
20:39
I was like, "Going to be like, how are we going to do this?"
20:42
This is not my first rodeo.
20:44
I'm telling you, I'm from Lagos.
20:44
We're very innovative over there.
20:48
Just don't open your emails if you get it from a Nigerian prince. I'm joking. Ready? Cheers. Let's bump it. Ooh, bam. Ah, it's hot. Okay. Yeah. The temperature. Yeah, both. Hot.
21:13
This is actually a really nice turkey that you Yeah, it's actually like a delicious turkey right here.
21:17
Celebrating Thanksgiving Where's the bone?
21:21
The Hot Ones way as only we can.
21:24
And here we are at the end of our spice road, closing out another Thanksgiving special as our fans know.
21:28
You're an incredible and undeniable talent.
21:30
You're pretty crazy yourself, Izzy, by the way. I am.
21:37
But I was interested to learn that if it wasn't for fighting, maybe you would have been a graphic designer.
21:40
And after your post-fight career, I've heard you dream about opening up an animation studio. Yeah.
21:46
So I know that this puts you on the spot a little bit, but we would be so honored I'll do it.
21:53
if you could give us a commemorative Israel Adesanya sketch Okay.
22:00
your experience here on Hot Ones. on Hot Ones. Okay. 2 seconds.
22:04
I'll put this away to the side. I'll put it right here. It'll be like 5 minutes. Sure. Take your time. It's my own theme music. Play your own game. Yeah. Exactly.
22:24
I wanted to use this as a stain on the thing. I like, yeah.
22:27
And I was all I like that there's that stain though, you know?
22:29
Yeah, I'm going to use it as a as a template. Something nice. Ah, yes, there it is. Came to me.
22:40
Sometimes you just have to let the let the universe tell you what to do. I'll leave it at that.
22:45
Just a quick little sketch. I can't wait to Oh.
22:53
Not sure what I was expecting, but this is amazing.
22:55
It's like we have the Pico cat, but I must to a full-blown Thanksgiving turkey and look at you.
23:05
Israel Adesanya taking on the Hot Ones gauntlet, bodying it like a Thanksgiving feast and then giving us a masterpiece to forever hang in the museum of curiosities.
23:14
And now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
23:18
This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
23:23
Now, for the first time in a long time, I'm going to enjoy Christmas with my family properly.
23:27
All of us together and New Year's actually celebrate with a whole countdown and everything.
23:33
And pretty much just enjoy life.
23:33
There's more to life than fighting. I love this game.
23:37
I'm still a savage in this beast.
23:39
I'm coming back for everything.
23:39
Like I said, the hunter becomes the hunted.
23:42
But, you have to enjoy life cuz there's more to life than fighting and there's more to life than whatever you're doing. So, yeah.
23:48
Right now it's time to smell the roses and then eventually the warrior will get back in the garden. THANK YOU. SO GOOD. LET IT GO. NO, I WON'T. YOU did so good.
24:07
This This is going to be You had a good time? Yeah. [ __ ] yeah.
24:10
Man, you made it so easy. Real savage.
24:12
And my tongue's not burning anymore.
24:15
We we cured we fixed you. We fixed it.
24:18
I'll take a picture of this.
24:28
Hey, what's going on Hot Ones fans?
24:29
Thank you so much for watching today's episode and I have an important announcement to all the mini spice lords out there and those of us who like to just dabble on the fringes of spicedom.
24:38
Say hello to our newest flavor from Hot Ones Junior, it's the red.
24:40
The red takes things up a notch with ghost pepper and red carrot.
24:45
It brings a warming zing to all your favorite foods.
24:47
Try it on gooey mac and cheese this winter and thank me later.
24:52
To get your hands on the Hot Ones Junior family of sauces, visit heatness. com. That's heatness. com. heatness. com.
24:58
Red light, yellow light, green light. Go now.