A-listers left in shock at Adesanya’s exploits
Two Hollywood A-listers have been left in shock at the performance of Kiwi UFC middleweight sensation Israel Adesanya.
The Auckland-based Adesanya is seemingly impressing everyone in the UFC octagon, even Hollywood superstars.
The Nigerian-born fighter comfortably out-pointed Brazilian UFC legend Anderson Silva in Melbourne on Sunday with Matt Damon and Chris Hemsworth sitting octagon side at Rod Laver Area.
According to UFC boss Dana White, Adesanya’s performance left the Hollywood stars in shock following his dominance of Silva.
Damon and wife Luciana Barroso have been spending time in Australia with close friends Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky.
White, who sat next to the two star couples, revealed how the Hollywood stars reacted to Adesanya’s showing at the post-fight press conference.
‘‘We were just like, ‘holy s...,’’’ White said in the post-fight press conference.
‘‘We were saying what everyone else was. This is awesome. What a great round.
‘‘It was like a kung fu movie. It was fun to see two super talented guys, the up-and-coming kid and the living legend, go at it like they did.’’
Fans on social media even called for a UFC battle between two of Damon and Hemsworth’s best-known movie roles Jason Bourne and Thor.
But Hemsworth quickly shut that down with a hilarious post on Instagram saying: ‘‘There’s no way I’m gettin in the cage, I pretend to be tough, this s... is real.’’
In a separate post, he said: ‘‘Well done everyone who got in the cage! I felt very comfortable from the safety of the sidelines.’’
In a tactical battle, Adesanya took the win by unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards: 29-28 30-27 and 30-27.
Post fight, Adesanya said Silva was one of his idols growing up.
‘‘If I’m playing basketball this is like playing Michael Jordan,’’ he said.
The Adesanya and Silva contest was elevated to the main event at UFC 234 after champion Robert Whittaker was forced to withdraw from his defence against Kelvin Gastelum with a severe abdominal injury.