Dana White reacts to Israel Adesanya's drunk-driving incident (VIDEO)
By Amy Kaplan
This week MMA fans learned that former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya had been charged with dunk driving in New Zealand just 18 days before he fought Sean Strickland.
Adesanya pleaded guilty to the charges and will be sentanced in January.
Now UFC president Dana White is speaking out about the incident.
“Bad decisions, man,” White told the media at the DWCS Week 8 post-fight press conference. “No matter how many drinks you’ve had – if you drink, don’t drive. Especially, it’s one thing, Ubering is easy, but when you have that kind of money that kid has, get a driver. Have somebody drive you or Uber or whatever."
He continued, “he made a bad decision. Thank God nobody was hurt. Him or nobody else. You know what I say about mistakes: How do you handle them after you make them? Hopefully, that’s a one-and-done for him, and he never does it again."
Israel Adesanya apologized for driving drunk 'I do not think this behavior is acceptable'
For his part, Adesanya took responsibility in a statement released shortly after news broke that he's pleaded guilty.
“I want to apologize to the community, my family and my team for the decision I made to get behind the wheel after drinking at dinner,” Adesanya said in a statement provided to the NZ Herald. “I am disappointed with my decision to drive, It was wrong,” Adesanya said in the statement. “I know that people might follow me, and I want them to know I do not think this behavior is acceptable.”
It is unclear if the charge impacted his performance at UFC 293, where he lost to Strickland in one of the UFC's biggest upsets. White had previously said that Adesanya would be given a rematch but that may change now, depending on sentencing.
dark. Next. Was Dana White a former MMA fighter?