UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya wants to make the move to WWE in the future and has named 14-time world champion Randy Orton as his dream opponent.
The Last Stylebender has blossomed into one of the most popular MMA fighters on the planet thanks to his prowess inside the Octagon.
But he also learned a lot of his tricks from wrestling. Adesanya has been seen performing the Rock Bottom and Stone Cold Stunner finishing moves on his trainer during a weigh-in..
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He’s also produced one of the best entrances in UFC history ahead of his UFC 243 main event win over Robert Whittaker, when he performed a street-dance routine with backing dancers.
And though the 21-year-old has still got plenty left to accomplish in in MMA, he does see himself transitioning into WWE for a spell and following in the footsteps of the likes of Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey.
“I grew up watching wrestling,” Adesanya told SPORTbible.
“The Attitude Era was huge for me and I definitely think watching that added to my charisma on stage and on the mic.
“I’ve watched years of The Rock, and Stone Cold [Steve Austin] show out on stage. The Rock was definitely my favourite, whether he was a heel or a good guy – he had this electrifying way of coming across.
“Especially on the mic, he was funny and used to make me laugh. Stone Cold was the badass, John Cena was dope as well and Shawn Michaels. The list goes on.
“You take that stuff in. You don’t realise it but you do and that’s why I come across so well on stage.
“I will [make the move] one day. Randy Orton would be cool. He’s still wrestling so I would love to face him. Hell in a Cell straight away – I don’t know why that came into my head.
“I think if you have that background of athletic performance and the charisma, it shouldn’t be too hard.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a big goal but it’s there. A little stint in WWE, why not?”
Adesanya has all the tools to be a singles competitor in WWE but what if he was placed in a tag-team?
The 32-year-old reckons he and Liverpudlian fighter Darren Till would make a strong pairing, even if they’ve been beefing on social media a little in recent times.
He said: "Straight away I thought Darren Till but he might betray me! It would make a good storyline.
“Let’s go with Darren. The ScouseBenders? [laughs]. Someone asked for my band name once and I said, maybe ‘Shirts and Skins’. I’m definitely skins. Anyone can get it.”
Till has lost his last two fights but Adesanya wants to face ‘The Gorilla’ in a mammoth headline bout in the United Kingdom.
"I’ve laid it up for him a few times and he’s fumbled,” the former GLORY kickboxing star explained.
“I feel like you never say never for a guy like that. I’ll use a guy like [Michael] Bisping for example.
“Everyone counted him out, including myself – and then look how he ended up being champion.
“I think Till can end up doing great things in this sport, he just needs to put it all together first.”
Topics: WWE, UFC, Israel Adesanya, Vince McMahon, Dana White
Josh Lawless