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15th February 2018
02:46pm GMT

"You're a tough fucking dude. Four guys turned it down. You're the only badass that took it. Four guys turned it fucking down. You stepped up. I appreciate that."https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/962654702835064834 When he made his exit, he lapped up the atmosphere. Adesanya waved to the roaring crowd as he made his way backstage. He planted a kiss on the heads of two of his cornermen in celebration.
The trio spotted someone or something in the crowd as they continued towards the locker room.
All three of them looked up and a wide grin washed over Adesanya's face. He was enjoying the occasion so much.
Then, the significance of the event began to hit him.
He buried his head in his hands as he began to realise what had just transpired. Everything he had done in MMA had been leading up to this moment and he seized the opportunity with both hands, leaving nobody disappointed.
As soon as his audience was out of sight, the tears began streaming. His expression changed with the immediacy of someone flicking on a switch.
He wrapped his arm around coach Eugene Bareman and let everything out. He was in floods of tears by the end of it.
"We finished the promise!" he said as he sobbed into his glove.
Check the cathartic moment out in the video embedded below from the 0:30 mark. It's important to note that the YouTube clip is just a preview of UFC 221: the Thrill and the Agony. The full version, which shows more of Adesanya's backstage reactions, is available to watch on FightPass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSm6CCA-3WU
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