Israel Adesanya was told by a fan that his gift of a fluorite stone will help him win back the UFC middleweight title.
Adesanya was unbeaten in the UFC at 185lb heading into the sixth defence of his belt against former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira last month in New York. 'The Last Stylebender' was dominating the fight until getting caught and ultimately stopped by a series of punches from Pereira in the final round, making his third loss to the Brazilian after two defeats in their kickboxing days.
Along with his City Kickboxing teammates Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France, former middleweight champion Adesanya attend a meet and greet with fans in Auckland. One fan brought along a fluorite crystal ball to give Adesanya as a gift, insisting the ball's spiritual properties will "heal" him and help him win his title back.
"I know you're the Black Dragon. I'm the Emerald Dragon," the fan said to Adesanya. "It's a glow-in-the-dark fluorite. It heals your seven chakras. I know you are all about that. So get that balance back, get that title back." Adesanya was taken back by the gift and originally thought it was an emerald stone, taking a good look at the crystal and even smelling it before posing for a picture with the fan and his family.
Chakras are energy centres in the body, with seven of them said to be situated from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. The spiritual view originates from Asian culture, something that Adesanya is a big fan of as he got his nickname 'The Last Stylebender' from the anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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Adesanya also recently stated that being a "weaboo" - which is a fan of Japanese culture - has helped him visualise his revenge on Pereira. "It's helped me tell my own story, to be the protagonist in my own story," Adesanya said whilst appearing on Hot Ones. "Be player one in my game. Like right now, I've already seen the set up for my next storyline, 'the hunter becomes the hunted'.
"Certain characters in anime as well, I draw inspiration from. Like when Gai Sensei, who is Rock Lee’s master, when he opened the eighth gate. I cried actually when that moment happened, it’s just inspiring. People say, 'Oh, you’re 33, oh f***ing hell, you still trying to rap'. Shut up."
