Israel Adesanya has refused to reveal the meaning of his new tattoo to UFC fans when posting on his social media.
The 'Last Stylebender' is one of the UFC's biggest stars and fans regularly take an interest in his personal life, including his love for being inked. Adesanya has regularly taken part in Q&As on his social media, with many asking what each tattoo means to him, as he continues to increase his collection.
This week, Adesanya revealed a series of new inks that he has received in the aftermath of his recent UFC middleweight title defeat by Alex Pereira. The first image showed a new tattoo on his neck, which appears to be of a dragon, while an ink under his right eye appears to be lettering of some kind.
One fan managed to successfully identify one of the meanings behind the tattoo by direct messaging Adesanya on Instagram and sharing: "It is ancient Egyptian deity Montu, a god of war." Adesanya produced a cryptic response, replying: "Now I know that is what it means."
Adesanya will be hoping his new tattoos can help inspire redemption in the Octagon this year, having lost his UFC middleweight title to Brazilian rival Pereira by KO. Despite a whole host of contenders expected to be formally staking their claim to a shot, Adesanya is expected to earn an immediate rematch this year.
And the former champion believes he is ready to have his hand raised despite having also lost to Pereira twice during their kickboxing careers. "I’m excited for this chapter," he said in his first YouTube video since defeat by Pereira. "I like the way the story goes. I made him bloody I made him bleed. If you can make him bleed, you can kill him. This one, I want to make it a bloodbath like I get up and it’s just red from elbows and just beating him lumpy.
What do you make of Israel Adesanya's new tattoos? Let us know in the comments section below
"Only the first one’s the asterisk, last two he beat me. But I was beating him, I was on my way to beating him. There’s that story there. This time, if I just beat him from bell to bell [sic] 30 minute a**-whooping, finish him somewhere in between, all those three don’t matter. He who has the last laugh, laughs best."
He later added on the MMA Hour: "I’ll fight him (Pereira). I hope he’s the champion, but I’m just saying, hypothetically, I’ll still fight him. I’m crazy, bro. I can beat him. I know I can beat him. You’ve seen I can beat him. He just I won’t say luck, f*** luck he just invested well. A good game plan. I’ll still fight him. If he was going to fight someone else and lose the belt, I’ll still fight him [next]."
