blood diamond clicked with current UFC middleweight champion Adesanya and the two African-born Kiwis quickly became friends. They trained together, traveled overseas to kickboxing events together, shared a room, and even got stuck fighting in China.
“The world knows him as Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya, but to me he’s just the same Iz I met all those years ago,” the 170-pounder says fondly. “And he kept the same energy the whole time. He is my brother.”
After taking part in more kickboxing fights than he can accurately remember, Mathetha finally followed his good pal into MMA.
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“I was basically having a hard time finding opponents in kickboxing. Things had gotten really quiet. Then Eugene told me if I had experience in MMA I would have loads of fights” , remembers the young man.
Blood Diamond took that advice, went 3-0 in mixed martial arts, and signed a contract with the UFC. However, his initial fight against Jeremiah Wells at UFC 271 did not go as planned, with the New Zealander finding himself submitted late in the first round.
“You live and you learn,” he concludes, noting, “Last time, you couldn’t really see anything from me. I would be stupid if I fell twice in the same movement. This time I have to be more patient.
Indeed, Israel Adesanya echoed those sentiments on his YouTube channel, pointing out that many people lose their first MMA fights.
