He is keen on making his name known around the world, and on a smaller level, he wants to be more known and familiar to people than a particular 2006 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
“I want it to be like, you say, ‘Blood Diamond,’ and people say, ‘Ah, yes. That guy (is a) great entertainer,’” he said. “I enjoy giving a good show, so that’s it. A guy who has something different than everyone else, and he’s quite entertaining, and someone you want to see fight whether you want to see him win or lose, you just want to see him fight. That’s the goal. I want to build that name, ‘Blood Diamond,’ so big that when you type it in Google, I’m going to show up before the movie.”
UFC 271 Free Fights: Adesanya vs Whittaker 1 | Whittaker vs Gastelum
Of course, that requires results, and although his record shows just three fights (and three wins), he has plenty of combat sports experience. Diamond was with Adesanya during the champion’s stint in China early in their respective careers. The two lived together, cornered one another when they could and supported each other as they made their way up the fight game ladder.
“It was pretty much me and him back-to-back against everybody else,” Adesanya said on UFC Countdown. “There were times it was just literally me and him in each other’s company, and sometimes, he’d be fighting at a different city and I’d be fighting in another city, and we wouldn’t have each other in our corner, so we’d just get someone as a water boy and corner ourselves. So, we’ve been through some adventures in China back in the day, so I feel like it’s his time now. He’s done the hard yards for years, so it’s his time now to shine under the bright lights.”
