Online attention is being drawn to a video clip of UFC fighter Israel Adesanya complaining about how widespread corruption is in the most populous black country.
![I love my people, but Nigeria is a very corrupt place” – Israel Adesanya [Video] - My State News](https://mystatenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Israel-Adesanya-1280x720.jpg)
Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya is a professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist from Nigeria and New Zealand who has won several titles in all three sports.
He is the current and two-time UFC Middleweight Champion and fights as a mixed martial artist in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
He has previously challenged for the Glory Middleweight Championship belt in kickboxing. He is ranked #5 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings as of March 21, 2023.
READ ALSO: Tobi Amusan: I Nearly Gave Up Athletics Before Being A World Champion
In a clip from an April 6, 2022 episode of the Hotboxin’ podcast with host and boxing legend Mike Tyson, Adesanya, 33, who had on Sunday reclaimed the middleweight title after knocking out Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 287, says “Nigeria is a very corrupt place.”
“I love my people but it is just that the government, everyone is trying to find a way to siphon money from someone,” the speaker said.
The mixed martial artist, who is both Nigerian and New Zealander, adds that greed affects all of Africa, not just Nigeria.
“It can happen in Nigeria, it can happen in South Africa, or it can happen in Morocco,” he says.
