Israel Adesanya, a former middleweight champion of the UFC, is said to have been detained for allegedly bringing brass knuckles into New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
The 33-year-old was detained by Port Authority police on Wednesday in the American Airlines terminal after Alex Pereira defeated him in New York last Saturday by technical knockout.
A Port Authority representative at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York confirmed the arrest, adding that Adesanya was detained for having “metal knuckles,” according to a story on Daily Mail.
Brass knuckles are a Class A misdemeanor in New York, and it is also illegal to bring them aboard an airplane. It’s not clear where Adesanya allegedly stored the weapon.
Spokespeople from the UFC are yet to react to the incident.
Israel Adesanya Suspended For Six Months After Defeat
Adesanya’s loss has seen him plummet down the pound-for-pound rankings, dropping from No. 2 to No. 8 on MMAfighting.com.
A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Adesanya is now a citizen of New Zealand and currently lives in Auckland.
Longtime rivals Adesanya and Pereira went head-to-head on Saturday in a showdown for the UFC middleweight belt, where the latter emerged victorious after a brutal TKO stoppage late in the bout.
Despite claims that referee Marc Goddard called an end to the fight prematurely, Canadian fighter and trainer Firas Zahabi insists Adesanya should be ‘grateful’ for the decision.
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