UFC superstar Israel Adesanya has very rude outburst at Monster logo after knockout of Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya raised eyebrows on Sunday by insulting one of the biggest sponsors of the UFC after after beating long-term rival Alex Pereira in stunning fashion in Miami.

‘The Last Stylebender’, 33, produced a brutal second-round knockout to seal victory over the Brazilian fighter at UFC 287 and take back the title he lost last year.

It was the fourth time the two middleweights had met, their second inside the octagon, and it was the first occasion in which Adesanya has come out on top.

After celebrating wildly, Adesanya walked towards the middle of the Octagon for the announcement of the result and then moved towards the Monster Energy logo, which is the biggest advertisement in the cage.

He then knelt down over it and made the sign of the cross on the logo before flipping it off with both his middle fingers.

It is not the first time the middleweight king has expressed his dislike for Monster Energy, either.

Adesanya has gone out of his way to remove the company’s products from UFC press conferences over the years.

After his fight with Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne, he famously threw a can of Monster Energy off the table.

He later posted a clip of the incident on Twitter alongside the comment, ‘Somethings money can’t buy. Like actual friends, integrity or real skills.’

The Nigerian-born New Zealander has never directly explained what his beef with the company is about, but he’s not the only fighter who doesn’t like the UFC sponsor.

Former UFC champion Dominick Cruz once famously called out Monster Energy executive Hans Molenkamp for a charity fight after his win at UFC 259.

Cruz alleged that Molenkamp pressures fighters to post photos and videos to social media of themselves interacting with Molenkamp in order to get ‘clout’, and if they refuse he threatens to take their sponsorship money away.

‘When you try to force me, and you text me if I don’t comment on your page if I don’t give you an interview, that you’re going to take what pays my bills … what are we doing? said Cruz.

Adesanya has gone out of his way to remove Monster’s products from UFC press conferences over the years

Former UFC champion Dominick Cruz (pictured with Dana White) once called out Monster Energy executive Hans Molenkamp for a charity fight after his win at UFC 259

‘Monster sponsors me, not you. So, this was a callout because he calls himself a pro fighter. He’s got 100 pounds weight on me and I’m like, we can make this a win-win situation. Let’s do a charity event. The monster picks the charity, and we scrap it out.’

Monster has sponsored many fighters over the years, including Jon Jones, Rose Namajunas and Stipe Miocic, and many of the athletes seem happy with the deals they have with the company.

UFC boss Dana White has had his issues with Molenkamp in the past, but maintains Monster is a great sponsor of promotion.

‘Is Hans a goofy dude? Yeah, he’s a very goofy dude,’ White said after UFC 259. 

‘But they’re a sponsor. These guys are a sponsor, they’re great sponsors, they pay these guys a lot of money. 

‘Monster is one of these companies that really, really takes care of people and it’s their company. They can sponsor whoever they want, they can run their business however they want.

‘This isn’t like a work situation where you’re working for somebody and you’re not happy about the way you’re being treated,’ he continued. ‘This is a sponsorship deal. These guys can spend their money and run their company however they want to and nobody’s guaranteed money from a sponsor. It’s a privilege to get money from a sponsor.

‘So if you don’t like the way they do business, don’t do business with them.’