Israel Adesanya isn’t interested in crossing back over into the boxing world.
MMA fighters leaving the sport for boxing is a hot topic right now. ESPN just released an article suggesting we’ll only see more UFC guys fighting out their contract and then trying to land a big payday in the ring. As one anonymous athlete was quoted saying: “if you sell 50,000 pay-per-views, 100,000 pay-per-views, you still make a boatload of money.”
Don’t expect “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya to jump on that bandwagon, though. As Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou approaches on March 8th, Adesanya shared backstage footage from Joshua’s last fight against Otto Wallin in December.
“After seeing Ngannou do what he done, what you thinking?” Joshua asked.
Adesanya revealed he had already received calls from some serious people about boxing.
“‘You ever thought about going in the boxing ring?’ I was like, I already did! 6-1!” Izzy said, referencing a 2015 dabble in the sweet science. “The money’s too much for them to get me back. I just feel like I’ve already done that, and right now the UFC’s looking after me pretty well. But I know what you mean … there’s a number, but I don’t think these guys are willing to pay it.”
UFC pay figures are intentionally opaque, but Adesanya is thought to make mid-seven figures from the UFC per fight. Good money, but it pales in comparison to the purses getting paid out at the top of boxing. Anthony Joshua earned $42 million in 2023, while Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fought twice last year and made $63 million. That’s just straight purse money, no sponsorships or business dealings.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is now in this orbit. He went from making mid-six figures in the UFC to cashing more than $10 million against Tyson Fury. He may make up to $20 million against Anthony Joshua.
No wonder so many UFC stars are angling for these cross-sport money fights. It’s called prize fighting for a reason, after all.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
