Israel Adesanya is not content with being a world-class kickboxer and using that elite striking to earn his place as a UFC Middleweight World Champion, now he’s working his way up the BJJ ranks as a recently promoted purple belt too. Adesanya has spent the last few weeks in California training and working on his grappling skills at ATOS HQ with BJJ legend and ATOS head coach Andre Galvao, during this time he’s been training with some of the greatest grapplers on the planet like Kaynan Duarte, Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa, and Galvao himself.
The experience that Adesanya has gotten from being able to train with some of the best around will undoubtedly be invaluable in his quest to retain his UFC Middleweight World Championship and continually defend it as the years go on. The experience may not have been so one-sided however, as Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa announced his plans to make his MMA debut in 2021 and it’s possible that he might have been able to learn a thing or two from Adesanya in the striking department.
Of course, Barbosa isn’t on his own as the main man Galvao also announced his intentions to return to professional MMA in 2021 after his initial seven fight run that ended in a knockout loss to future UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley. Israel Adesanya announced the news of his promotion to BJJ purple belt at ATOS HQ on his official Instagram account, and also listed some of the other amazing people he’d met on his trip to California, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Slater.
