Another month, another person asking for a body shot.
Former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya competes in his first non-title fight in six years this weekend (Sat., Feb. 1, 2025) in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia against No. 5 ranked Nassourdine Imavov, from inside Anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
But that didn’t stop “The Last Stylebender” from slugging fitness influencer Sam McCarthy with a vicious body shot.
Adesanya asked McCarthy, “Do you consent to be body-shotted?” and McCarthy agreed. The former Middleweight champion then turned to the person filming and asked, “How do you think he’s going to take it?”
Check out how McCarthy took the body shot below:
Solid Sam! pic.twitter.com/ppRYaxENRG
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) January 30, 2025
As always, who knows if Adesanya really put all of his power behind that punch, but it sure sounded like he did.
To his credit, McCarthy took that body shot like a champ and afterward said he was “definitely winded. “Then Adesanya responded that he could feel “energy travel” along his arm.
Maybe “The Last Stylebender” will use his body shots this weekend against Imavov, and we only have two days to wait to see if he does.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Saudi Arabia fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card matchups, which are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Saudi Arabia news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here. For the updated and finalized “Adesanya vs. Imavov” fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.