UFC’s Newest Signee Accepts ‘White Israel Adesanya’ Nickname, Admits to Mimicking His Techniques

Allan Binoy | 12/12/2024
Israel Adesanya talks to the media after losing to Sean Strickland (not pictured) during UFC 293 at Qudos Bank Arena.

Navajo Stirling, a New Zealand fighter, who signed to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) is being called the ‘White Israel Adesanya’. The 6’4 light heavyweight fighter isn’t running away from the moniker either.

During his fights in DWCS,  a lot of similarities were seen between Adesanya and him, which led to his rechristening with his nickname.

In an interview for Adesanya’s YouTube channel, Stirling spoke about the comparisons saying,

“I definitely see some of the comparisons and the stylistic moves only because I mean I grew up watching Israel Adesanya for a long time before he even knew me and I was like stealing all of his moves. I took like as many moves as I could.”

The admiration for Adesanya turned into mutual respect when Stirling began training with Eugene Bareman and Adesanya himself at City Kickboxing. Stirling is now good friends with the former champ.

So it is no surprise that there are elements of Izzy’s style in his game.

Besides, they are both 6’4 and use their tall, lanky physique to control distance by getting in and out of their opponent’s face without taking any damage.


While the comparisons with Adesanya are high praise, the Kiwi native will be looking to prove he is worthy of the same when he makes his UFC debut this weekend at UFC Tampa.

Sterling believes he’s got it all

Raw, unfiltered confidence is a trait they seem to be teaching at City Kickboxing under Bareman. Just like Israel Adesanya, Stirling is very confident in his abilities and believes he can go the distance to become the champion of the division.

However, he has a long way to go before he can think of calling for a title shot. For now, he is focused on beating Tukkos at UFC Tampa. In a press conference ahead of his fight, the Kiwi spoke about his ambitions and said,

“Yeah I mean I got it all, I got the look, I got the fighting style, I got the mindset for it and a great story to come with it….To bring myself here, I knew I was going to be a superstar…I just know it in my head.”


Those are some fighting words but this also means there will be a lot of pressure for him to perform. Hopefully, he can fight as well as he can talk.

Post Edited By: Smrutisnat Jena
Israel Adesanya

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Allan Binoy

Allan Binoy is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush. Taken to the sport in 2015, thanks to a certain Conor McGregor, Allan has himself dabbled in the martial arts. And having graduated from Loyola College, Chennai, with a degree in English Literature, he has learnt to use his love for language to have a voice in the MMA community. Allan has been writing about the gladiatorial stories for more than three years now and has pursued excellence at a number of reputable media organizations, covering every UFC PPV in the last couple of years. In addition to this, the southpaw is also a semi-professional soccer player for Diego Juniors FC in Pune, playing in the Pune Super Division League.

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