MELBOURNE, Australia — It feels as though a win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 will secure Israel Adesanya’s spot as one of the biggest stars on the UFC’s books.
At Friday’s event media day, “The Last Stylebender” discussed the star making power of the Marvel Stadium event, and he also expressed his respect for some of the biggest names in the combat sports world, including Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
When discussing his earning potential, the City Kickboxing product revealed his belief that he could become the first person to earn $100 million from a UFC fight purse.
“I’ll make that purse in MMA, guaranteed,” said Adesanya. “I’ll make that purse in the UFC, that’s why I said this is where I want to end my career. Come on man, you can make $100 million in the UFC. You don’t have to go to boxing. Only Mayweather is going to make that. Only McGregor is going to make that when he fought Mayweather—that’s the Mayweather effect. That’s going to happen in the UFC.
“I might be the first person to do it in the UFC, if McGregor comes back he might compete with me for that. But I might be the first to do that in the UFC. It’s not about money. At the end of the day, I do this for legacy. This is where I’ll end my career. I don’t want to fight that baddest motherf*ckers in the world and then go and just fight some guy like, ‘Okay will duke it out, but we’ll just use our hands.’ I gotta kick someone in the face!”
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