DUI = Publicity Stunt?

Henry Cejudo isn’t sold on the purity of Israel Adesanya’s recent legal issue.

News broke yesterday (Mon., Sept. 24, 2023) that Adesanya pleaded guilty to a drunk driving charge. The former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion lost his title to Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (watch highlights) at UFC 293 earlier this month (Sept. 9, 2023).

Catching wind of the news, Adesanya’s fellow former champion, Cejudo, believes there may have been a different motive. However, the reported incident took place three weeks before Adesanya’s fight with Strickland.

“Israel Adesanya just got a DUI,” Cejudo said on Instagram. “Is this a publicity stunt? We saw it in the past with Conor McGregor, we saw it with Jon Jones, we saw it with Mike Tyson. With a lot of these guys literally getting in trouble after them having a devastating loss or something on that matter. I mean, because he’s a big name, will this work in his favor?

“That’s called life, dude,” he continued. “At the end of the day, man, continue to keep being that mixed martial artist. I wouldn’t go down that route of becoming that bad boy. Your identity, Israel, is not just fighting. Your identity, man, is who you are as a whole as a person. I guess, we all make mistakes. So, I’m not here to kick you, man, while you’re down.”

Cejudo is also coming off a recent title fight loss, suffering a split decision defeat to former Bantamweight titleholder, Aljamain Sterling, at UFC 288 in May 2022. In the end, “Triple C” wants to remind Adesanya that the community is all behind him during the tough times.

“I just want to let you know, bro, that as a fighter, a mixed martial artist, that we’re all behind you, dude,” Cejudo said.