From fighting in Whanganui to becoming one of the star's in the UFC middleweight division.
New Zealand UFC fighter Israel Adesanya reveals he has had to fight for everything in his career in mixed martial arts.
The Nigeria-born middleweight told 1 NEWS that he knew he was destined for greatness in the fighting game, eight years ago before making the move to Auckland to train.
"I always knew I was going to do this, it's weird man even in Whanganui. I remember the last time I was in Whanganui I had a bit of a scuffle," said Adesanya.
"You know same s*** different night, people try and test you because you are a fighter.
"I was like 'f*** this place I'm out, I'm going to f****** do great things – what the f*** are you all going to do with all your lives?'
"And this is outside Stellar, this one little pub outside Whanganui. I was talking that s*** then."
The 29-year-old has a perfect MMA record of 14 wins and has won all three of his fights in the UFC.
"I just knew like 'I'm out of here I can't stay here.' It just felt like the shell was too small and I wanted my mind to expand more than my shell.
"Fast-forward now I am travelling the world for free and I just kick ass on the way."
Adesanya says his hate for US rival Derek Brunson is genuine and he predicts he will finish him in the first round or second round.
In February 2010 the man nicknamed 'The Last Stylebender' put all his eggs in one basket and made the bold move to go to Auckland to enhance his fighting credentials.
"I always knew, I didn't tell my parents until the day before because I knew they would try and stop me," he said.
"So I just packed everything in my car and I was like f*** this."
Adesanya admitted his MMA coach Eugene Bareman from City Kickboxing tried to convince to try out other gyms.
"I just showed up at the gym… Eugene (coach) was on the coach with one of his students and he looks at me like 'what are you doing here?'
"Because I was here in 2009 and I was like 'I moved here, can I train here?' and he was like 'yeah... sure'.
"He kind of tried to shoo me away a little bit to another gym because that fight in 2009 I was just horrible, it was an amateur MMA fight."
Adesanya says he has always been a man of his word and walks and the walk.
"There is a method to my madness – so in that way I have to do it. If I don't do it I look like an eat-a** and I don't ever want to look like that."
He spoke highly of his fellow City Kickboxing teammate, Kiwi flyweight fighter Kai Kara-Frane who was signed by the UFC last month.
"He's (Kara-France) where he belongs. He's worked with the best and he’s working with the best now.
"And I just feel it's his time, it’s our time. There is always trends in fighting – there was a time when the Brazilians were on top."
"There is a lot of Brazilian champions and then eventually the Americans - the same thing."
Adesanya says Australians and New Zealanders are changing the game in the UFC.
"There is just waves, just trends. Right now it is our time, the Oceania time, the ANZAC time."
The current middleweight UFC champion is New Zealand born Australian fighter Robert Whittaker.
Adesanya is set to fight US rival Derek Brunson in November at UFC 230 in New York.
The Kiwi is ranked ninth in the middleweight division with Brunson ranked sixth.
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