UFC 243 was the perfect kind of storm to create a massive star. Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker were facing off in a title unification bout. The fight would be taking place in Australia—which is a neighboring nation to New Zealand. Albeit friendly, Australia and New Zealand have a longstanding sports rivalry. And although Whittaker was born in New Zealand, he currently calls Sydney, Australia home. And while Israel Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria, he grew up in Auckland, New Zealand.
Due to their respective backgrounds, Adesanya put New Zealand on his back for this fight.