ANDIKA CHALLENGE
The Unexpected Wisdom of Israel Adesanya, Martial Artist
7 surprisingly illuminating quotes from the UFC middleweight king
Israel Adesanya is a Nigerian-born champion kickboxer, and the reigning undisputed king of the middleweights in UFC. He’s also one of my favorite people to listen to.
We don’t often go to cage fighters for their thoughts on life. But Adesanya peppers his interviews with his iron mentality and intelligent takes on the self. He doesn’t philosophize like Bruce Lee (who I quoted recently: “Be like water”) —Adesanya is cerebral, quirky, witty and full of life.
The skinny guy with a precise punch packs power in both his fists and his words. In between dominating and humping Paulo Costa and meme warring Jon Jones, he says something that makes you pause and think.
Here are seven times he’s done that for me.
1. Adesanya on self-image:
“You’re never as good as they say you are, you’re never as bad as they say you are. All that matters is how you see yourself.”
Most of us care too much about what other people think. This is to be expected. We are social animals, after all. Here, Adesanya reminds us that other people’s perceptions of you are incomplete and inaccurate. You can’t build your identity on a foundation that flimsy. A solid, strong self-image will prove a more secure foundation in the long run. Today, people will think you’re the shit. Tomorrow, they’ll think you’re just shit. Both times, their views are based on incomplete information about you.
This doesn’t only apply to people’s negative perceptions of you. It’s both ways. Don’t internalize the cheers, don’t internalize the jeers. Foremost, build an excellent reputation with yourself.
This isn’t to say stop caring what others think. You are human. You are never NOT going to care at all what others think — don’t even aim for that. The aim is to care MORE what you think of yourself, not to stop caring at all.
2. Adesanya on evaluating challengers:
“They say to never underestimate anyone, but they don’t tell you to overestimate people either.”
We’ve often heard the advice: “never underestimate your opponent.” What Adesanya adds here is brilliant. Don’t overestimate your opponents either. You can apply this to other challenges. Don’t underestimate the challenges you’ll face doing something meaningful; don’t overestimate them either.
Having a mental map of reality that’s as close to reality as possible is one of the most useful tools to have to overcome the obstacles you’ll inevitably face. When you are able to accurately evaluate potential pitfalls, you can beat them with relative ease.
When you are comparing yourself to others (another human thing you’ll do)
3. Adesanya on becoming your own person:
“Don’t be like me. Be like you.”
The full quote explains it well —
Kids will tell me ‘oh I want to be like you when I grow up,’ you know. I just thought ‘nah, don’t be like me, be like you,’ because first of all they don’t really know me but second of all I understand what they’re trying to say but I just let them know — be like you.
You have people you admire. People you are trying to be like. First, remember that your views on them are incomplete and inaccurate. Second, remember that they are flesh-and-bone, anxiety-having monkeys winging it just like you. Third, remember that the realities of your situation are not a replica of theirs.
Get a mentor, yes. Learn from the masters, yes. But do not seek to replicate their lives. Rather, seek out the transferable principles from their lives while creating your own story. Blend the lessons of different greats into your own mix. Create yourself.
It is as the great Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō wrote: “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.”
4. Adesanya on mistakes:
“I’ve already made my own mistakes in this game… I’m just smart about how I make mistakes.”
Aspire to make great mistakes. The kind you can learn great, transferable lessons from. The point isn’t to make zero mistakes, the point is to learn from mistakes when you make them. Bonus points for not making silly mistakes (avoidable, known mistakes) but making smart mistakes (that stretch you in new ways).
5. Adesanya on living playfully:
“When I’m having fun, I’m the best in the world.”
We are at our best when we’re not taking ourselves too seriously. When we are not protecting our egos. When we are in the moment, having fun. We are at our brilliant, creative best when we are in a state of play.
Creativity is intelligence having fun. — Albert Einstein
Live playfully. Life is a game and the winners make it fun. When you are doing something you love, without pressure, without avoidable seriousness, you can perform better. We become adults and we forget that “having fun” is a perfectly fine goal to have — even in your daily grind. We become adults and forget the curiosity, openness, and pleasure of living life like it’s a fun game. We become adults and we forget how to play.
You look at Adesanya and his love for Naruto, his meme-majesty status, his jokes, his DGAF attitude, and you see he prioritizes doing things he finds fun. A YouTube commenter captures this, saying: “he’s like a grown kid loving the world and living out his dreams.”
6. Adesanya on mastery:
“I don’t throw and hope. I aim and fire.”
This is probably Adesanya’s most famous quote. It brims with supreme self-confidence in his abilities as a striker. This kind of confidence is built on competence and mastery. Mastery is built on practice. I recently wrote about this here:
We get better at the things we do often. We strengthen the muscles we exercise. We become masters at the arts we practice. You’ll not magically get better at anything just by wishing for it.
Practice improves things. And these improvements further build your esteem. The supreme confidence in his striking precision is built on him proving to himself over and over again that he’s an elite striker.
7. Adesanya on false humility:
“I’ve seen it so many times. When you see somebody rising you want to tear them down because you feel inadequate and you want to call it humble. I am extraordinarily humble — believe me.”
AND:
“I’m not gonna dim my shine just because it’d make some people uncomfortable.”
The balance between supreme confidence and self-aware humility is perhaps the MMA star’s biggest lesson.
Adesanya is one cocky niño. He gloats, he praises himself, he beats his chest, and he wins loudly. No one has ever beaten him, and he makes sure you know. 20–0. He backs up his seeming arrogance with his near-flawless performance. He backs up any self-aggrandizing antics with winning.
Naturally, this rubs some people the wrong way. They would prefer a humbler victor. Correction: they would prefer a victor who seems more humble.
Adesanya is super aware of his weaknesses, and doesn’t underestimate his opponents despite his perfect record. Listen to any interview of his and you’ll see both his supreme confidence and supreme self-awareness. On his game he says, “I have holes in my game.” On his belts he says, “Don’t get too attached to these things. Flex for a bit, but focus on what matters.” On constant practice, “I’ve seen many people in this game rise and fall. I am just trying to put in the work and do what I need.” On longevity he says, “It’s easy to get this. It’s hard to keep it. You’ve got to stay working.” Dude is humble.
Australians have a phrase to describe what we’re talking about. “Tall Poppy Syndrome” — the tendency to try bring down those ve who stand out. The phrase comes from how flower growers cut down the tallest poppies to keep flower heights uniform. I learnt it from this Adesanya speech here.
When you’re good and you act like you know it, people want to tear you down. Why are you so assured? Why are you so self-sufficient? Why are you so good while I am not — and why does you celebrating yourself without rubbing it in my face? But what’s humility?
Humility is not pretending you don’t enjoy seeing your hard work bear fruit. Humility is not pretending you are worse than you are. Humility is knowing your limits, and respecting them. Humility is acknowledging your fallibility.
Humility is not hiding your strengths, but celebrating them while knowing you have weaknesses too. Humility is not pretense and playing small; it is embracing both your good and your bad.
Update: I have just watched a video essay on PhilosoFeed that breaks down Izzy’s mentality, philosophy and technique. It is worth your time: https://youtu.be/DpKyEoY8x-4
