Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya finds himself at the center of a new fight this week after he posted a “joke” about Charlie Kirk, while simultaneously slipping out of the UFC’s top five rankings in his weight class.
Adesanya’s viral video is facing considerable backlash. In the clip, reposted by X user Dom_Lucre, Adesanya records himself pouring liquor into a shot glass with a bullet lodged on the side. Viewers hear Adesanya say he is going to give a “Black joke”: “I’ll call this the Kirk shot….”
As of Thursday afternoon, the clip had garnered 756K views.
Adding to Adesanya’s troubles, the UFC’s latest rankings update, released two days after the UFC Vancouver fight night, saw the former champion drop out of the top 5 rankings in the middleweight division.
The shift followed Brendan Allen’s dominant win in Vancouver against Reinier de Ridder, which elevated Allen four spots to claim the fifth position. De Ridder slid to No. 8, while former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker fell to No. 9, and Jared Cannonier climbed to No. 10.
The rankings adjustment shows a challenging era for Adesanya, who was also removed from the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings last year after a decisive loss to Dricus du Plessis.
Adesanya was once a dominant force in the middleweight division, holding the title from 2019 to 2022, and successfully defending it six times. His 2019 interim title victory over Kelvin Gastelum, recently enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing, remains a career highlight. However, recent struggles, including three consecutive losses over the past two years, have shown his decline.
Now, with the baggage of his recent controversial comment, Adesanya’s drop in rankings has sparked debate about his future in the UFC — or in MMA at all. He does not currently have an upcoming fight scheduled, regardless of a rumored return to the octagon in late 2025.
The UFC has not issued any comment or response to the viral video from Adesanya mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination as of press time.
As the middleweight division evolves for UFC, contenders like Caio Borralho are positioning themselves for high-profile matchups, potentially against veterans like Adesanya or Whittaker. Yet, whether Adesanya can regain his footing in the ring or repair his public image remains to be seen.