Israel Adesanya Has WWE 'on His Bucket List,' Says UFC Champion's Manager Tim Simpson

UFC star Israel Adesanya's manager divulged Wednesday that the new UFC middleweight champion would like to have a match in WWE one day.

Speaking to ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Tim Simpson said the following about his client's desire to eventually crossover into the world of pro wrestling with WWE:

"It's on his bucket list, for sure. He wants to [do a match]. He's been very disciplined. We've had acting opportunities turned down. He's been very disciplined about being an athlete. Because he knows that's all in his future. So, I can't see him doing it while he's still competing. But in the future? Definitely bucket list."

The 33-year-old Adesanya is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world with a 24-2 career record in MMA following a successful kickboxing career that saw him go 75-5.

Adesanya began his MMA career 20-0, including a win over Kelvin Gastelum to become interim UFC middleweight champion and a win over Robert Whittaker to become the unified middleweight champ.

He suffered his first loss to Jan Błachowicz in 2021 in what was his light heavyweight debut, but he bounced back with three consecutive successful middleweight title defenses before losing to Alex Pereira in November.

Adesanya got revenge in the rematch, beating Pereira by second-round knockout at UFC 287 last week to become a two-time middleweight champion.

Many MMA fighters have enjoyed a successful transition to pro wrestling with Ronda Rousey and Ken Shamrock standing out as perhaps the two biggest examples.

That suggests Adesanya could thrive in WWE, and there is now an even clearer path for him to make that transition than ever before.

Last week, Endeavor Group Holdings purchased 51 percent of WWE and merged it into a singular company with UFC, meaning both promotions are now under the same leadership.

That would seemingly make it far easier and more seamless to have cross promotion between UFC and WWE.

Simpson's comments suggest Adesanya doesn't want to focus on WWE or anything else until his UFC career is over, but there is little doubt that WWE will open a fighter of his caliber into the fold with open arms.

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