UFC superstar Israel Adesanya has finally revealed the names of the movies he had opportunities to appear in.
Even after suffering some recent defeats to top-ranked competitors, Israel Adesanya remains one of the biggest names in the UFC and was known as one of the promotion`s most active champions during his reign.
With his life story already captured in the 2023 documentary film `Stylebender`, the accomplished Adesanya put his aspirations in acting on hold while he held the UFC middleweight championship.
In the build-up to his highly anticipated clash with longtime kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281, Adesanya mentioned that he declined four different movie offers to focus on his championship duties.
Now, the titles of three of those four films are known.
Israel Adesanya Rejected Offers from `Black Panther` and `Creed` Franchises Before Facing Alex Pereira
In November 2022, just days before his title loss to Pereira at Madison Square Garden, Adesanya shared that he had turned down a role in the 2023 film `Creed III`, the latest installment in the `Creed` and `Rocky` cinematic universe.
The former two-time champion stated that this boxing movie was the fourth film offer he had to refuse.
Speaking on his official YouTube channel, Adesanya also confirmed that he rejected roles in `Black Panther: Wakanda Forever` (2022) and `Creed II` (2018).
Adesanya explained his reasoning regarding his acting opportunities: “While I’m fighting, if I decide to take, I don’t know, three months to go film a film. It would f— my [schedule] up. While I was, especially on top, champion, I wanted to keep defending my belt.”
He continued, “I was like, nah… I had options for Black Panther 2… Creed 2 as well, that was another one. I turned it down.”
Adesanya clarified, “It was not because I didn’t wanna do it. I just knew I had to focus on the task at hand.”
Israel Adesanya Also Ventured into Voice Acting with Baki Hanma
Regarding live-action roles, Adesanya has previously commented that a future in Hollywood is “always gonna be there” for him.
However, he did make his voice acting debut in 2021 for `Baki Hanma`, the sequel to the popular combat sports anime `Baki`.
Adesanya provided the voice for Chamomile Lessen, a notable character in the anime’s first season, available on Netflix.
The 35-year-old Adesanya is coming off consecutive title fight defeats against Sean Strickland and the current champion Dricus du Plessis, alongside a knockout loss to number one contender Nassourdine Imavov in February.
