Israel Adesanya | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Israel Adesanya and Henry Cejudo shared an emotional moment on a recent episode of Cejudo’s Pound 4 Pound podcast.

In the past, Adesanya and Cejudo have butted heads, with their bad blood dating all the way back to UFC 253 in September 2020. The main event of that card saw Adesanya successfully defend his middleweight title against Paulo Costa and in the aftermath of the win, he had a face-to-face confrontation with Costa’s cornerman Eric Albarracin. Albarracin is a coach and close friend of Cejudo’s, which led to Cejudo criticizing Adesanya, and Adesanya later calling Cejudo a “little f*cking b*tch.”

Plenty has changed since then. Adesanya lost his middleweight title, regained it, and then lost it again. Cejudo has continued to struggle since coming back from retirement and is once again pondering hanging up the gloves after suffering a brutal eye poke in a loss to Song Yadong.

Cejudo and podcast co-host Kamaru Usman had Adesanya on their show and at the conclusion of recording, Cejudo issued an apology to Adesanya for their past conflict.

“Thanks, Israel,” Cejudo said. “Thanks, man. I f*cking hated on you like you wouldn’t believe because haters are your biggest fans and what you’ve been able to do not being a f*cking wrestler, to me that’s impressive. Coming from the wrestling background, 85 percent of all champions have all come from the sport of wrestling, so what you’ve been able to do, f*ck, congratulations.

“I don’t know if it’s too late to say I’m sorry?”

The apology was well-received by Adesanya, who shared a laugh with Cejudo.

“I only got salty because I was, like, ‘Man, we were cool in Australia. Why’d he start hating on me?’” Adesanya said. “And then I was a little bit maybe salty, but for me, I respect you because of your game. Your mind. I see the way you fight, I see the way you operate, and, man, one of the best ever.

“So thank you for saying that. And no need for apologies, it’s already been water under the bridge. I don’t hold on to grudges unless it pays to be petty, but this doesn’t, so I love you.”

Cejudo then joked that the moment was getting way too emotional for everyone.

“You guys got some tissue?” Cejudo said.

Between the three of them, Adesanya, Cejudo, and Usman are three of the most decorated athletes in combat sports history. Adesanya has competed in MMA, kickboxing, and boxing, and twice held the UFC middleweight title. Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling and won UFC titles at bantamweight and flyweight. Usman reigned as welterweight champion from 2019-2022 and holds the UFC record for most consecutive wins in his division at 15.

However, all three have struggled in recent years, losing their past three fights, which Cejudo couldn’t help but crack wise about.

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EXIT POLL

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