A video clip starring UFC fighter Israel Adesanya is garnering popularity online, in which he can be heard expressing dissatisfaction over the pervasiveness of corruption in the most populous black nation.
The Nigerian-New Zealand MMA fighter, however, said he love his people of Nigeria.
“Nigeria is a very corrupt place,” the 33-year-old mixed martial artist says in the clip from an April 6, 2022 episode of the Hotboxin’ podcast with host and boxing legend Mike Tyson.
“I love my people but it is just that the government, everyone is trying to find a way to siphon money from someone.”
He further said that greed is a problem across Africa, not just Nigeria.
“It can happen in Nigeria, it can happen in South Africa, or it can happen in Morocco,” he states.
After knocking out Alex Pereira in the UFC 287 main event with a brutal knockout, Adesanya recovered the middleweight title on Sunday.