Israel Adesanya is one of the most marketable athletes in the UFC at the moment. As a result of the same, Adesanya is able to sign exclusive deals with brands such as Puma, and Call of Duty among others. More recently, Adesanya has become heavily involved with online betting side Stake backed by Canadian rapper, Drake.
‘The Last Style Bender’ took to Instagram to share news about Stake’s latest big move. He shared a video of Stake announcing its partnership with the Sauber F1 team wit the caption,
“Speed Kills… @stake @stakef1team”
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Over the past few years, Stake as a company has been increasing its presence in the world of sports. The company became one of the many sponsors for F1 team Sauber last year. However, the company took it up a notch this year by securing the naming rights to the team. After being known as the Alfa Romeo team for four-years, the team will now be named, ‘Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’.
As a brand ambassador for Stake, Canadian musician Drake took part in the rebranding’s announcement on New Year’s Day. He is anticipated to attend a few Formula One races in 2024 for promotional purposes. The chassis of Sauber’s vehicle, to be called the Kick Sauber C44. The team will also retain the driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu for a second season running.
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Drake is one of the many celebrity partners that Stake has which also includes Israel Adesanya. The Canadian rapper has on many occasions posted bets he has placed on UFC events with the wagers going as high as a million dollars. Israel Adesanya is a fighter that has won Drake huge sums of money. Now, MMA fans want to know whether ‘The Last Style Bender’ will return to the octagon anytime soon.
Israel Adesanya to return to UFC action in 2024?
After his recent loss to Sean Strickland, Adesanya stated that he would be taking a break from the sport. Although he did not specify the exact time he implied that he would be away from the sport for a very long time. This prompted some fans to speculate about retirement altogether.
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However, in a recent interview, Adesanya stated that he would not be retiring from the sport. Furthermore, he stated that his return would take place a lot sooner than expected. While there is little to no hope of a 2024 comeback, there is a very strong chance Israel Adesanya might return to action in 2025.