Former UFC Champ Israel Adesanya Shows Off Wild New Face Tattoo After Losing Title

Israel Adesanya ruled the UFC middleweight division for more than 3.5 years.

Adesanya, who came over from the world of kickboxing, first won the interim middleweight title in April of 2019 over Kelvin Gastellum.

He then took out Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 later that year to become the undisputed king of the division. The New Zealander then went on a middleweight streak only rivaled by UFC legend Anderson Silva, whom he’d previously bested on his way to the title.

Adesanya defended the middleweight title five times over a span of three years. Though he did bump up to light heavyweight in attempt to become a two-division champ and took a loss then-light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz.

But still, Adesanya appeared largely impenetrable. That is, until recently. He defended his title again in November against an old foe, Alex Pereiera. Pereira, fittingly, was the last kickboxer to beat Adesanya prior to him leaving for the world of MMA.

Though Adesanya controlled the fight early, Pereira came storming back with a late TKO to knock the reigning champ from his perch.

Adesanya took the loss in stride. He praised Pereira for his resilience after the fight and appeared ready to fight his way back to the top.

But now it seems the loss is weighing on the longtime champ.

Israel Adesanya Gets Face Tattoo After Loss To Alex Pereira

Adesanya went to drastic measures recently to help himself get over the loss. The charismatic UFC star got a new face tattoo to signify his “rebirth” of sorts in the fight game.

“The old version of you must die before you come alive,” he said in a tweet revealing the new ink, which says the word “dragon” in Arabic.

Fans weren’t sure what to make of the new tattoo.

It seems Adesanya is taking the loss of his title pretty hard. But maybe this is just step one toward getting it back.