Israel Adesanya has spent years being judged in public, fight by fight. But the version of Izzy the world sees inside the cage is only one part of who he is. Raised in a tight Nigerian family and later building his life in New Zealand, he says his parents did not initially see a path in fighting. He did. So he trusted himself, moved to Auckland, and kept going until the vision became real.

In this episode of Funded, Izzy sits down with Maryam Rushdi to talk about the mindset behind the career: knowing when to trust a game plan and when to call an audible, separating outside noise from what is real, and the therapy lesson he still uses today - 'don't react, respond.'

He also opens up about one of the biggest changes of his career. After four straight losses, Izzy took months to think through what was best for him and made the difficult decision to leave City Kickboxing, the gym that helped shape him into the fighter he became, and start building his own team. He explains why the decision was not emotional, why accountability matters after a setback, and why sometimes moving forward means changing the environment around you.

Izzy revisits the Kelvin Gastelum fight that showed him how deep he could go, the Alex Pereira rivalry that tested his confidence again and again, and the private wins that mattered even while the world was keeping score of his public losses. He also talks about family, fame, jealousy, helping the people around him level up, and why success only becomes dangerous when you start believing your own hype.

This one is about responding instead of reacting, knowing who you are when the noise gets loud, and having the courage to rebuild when the old version of the plan stops working.

CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:58 - Nigeria, Family and Staying Grounded

00:01:42 - From “Disappointment” to Fighter

00:03:16 - The Fighter vs. the Man

00:08:56 - Goggins and the Fight That Changed Him

00:13:36 - When to Abandon the Game Plan

00:18:38 - Don’t React. Respond.

00:26:30 - Four Losses and Leaving City Kickboxing

00:32:40 - Pereira, Confidence and Do-or-Die

00:46:44 - Private Wins, Public Losses

00:55:01 - Don’t Get High on Your Own Supply

01:00:58 - Dreaming Bigger Again

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TAGS/KEYWORDS:

Funded, Funded podcast, Tradeify, TradeifyTV, Israel Adesanya, Izzy, Israel Adesanya podcast, Izzy podcast, UFC, MMA, UFC champion, mixed martial arts, fighter mindset, fighting psychology, athlete mindset, trading psychology, trading mindset, discipline, accountability, resilience, adversity, confidence, self belief, self awareness, don’t react respond, respond not react, City Kickboxing, leaving City Kickboxing, Alex Pereira, Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker, David Goggins, UFC 236, UFC 243, fighting losses, losing streak, rebuilding, new team, coaching, trusting yourself, handling pressure, public criticism, social media noise, fame, family, Nigerian culture, New Zealand, martial arts, competition, Maryam Rushdi, trading podcast, sports psychology, performance mindset, dream bigger, success mindset

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