UFC: Israel Adesanya shows class with heartfelt gesture for trainer on flight home

Israel Adesanya. Photo / Photosport

He may be the king of the UFC, but Kiwi star Israel Adesanya has shown he's still selfless at heart.

Adesanya took out his UFC 253 title defence against Paulo Costa on Sunday with a second-round TKO, handing the Brazilian his first professional loss in emphatic fashion.

While on a flight home to New Zealand via Las Vegas with his team from Auckland gym City Kickboxing, Adesanya made the heartfelt gesture of giving his first-class seat to one of his trainers.

UFC commentator Jon Anik, who was also on the flight, shared about the moment on Twitter.

"Flew back to Las Vegas with the still undisputed king of the middleweights and you won't be at all surprised to learn that Israel Adesanya gave his first-class seat to one of his cornermen. Total package, that guy," Anik wrote.

Flew back to Las Vegas with the still undisputed king of the middleweights and you won’t be at all surprised to learn that Israel Adesanya gave his first-class seat to one of his cornermen. Total package, that guy.

— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) September 28, 2020

Meanwhile, Costa has slammed Adesanya's post-match celebration, calling him "human trash" while demanding a rematch.

'The Last Stylebender' completely dominated Costa before catching him with a left hook to the side of the head to begin the end of proceedings.

He then mounted Costa and began raining down heavy shots before referee Jason Herzog intervened to wave off the fight.

Israel Adesanya punches Paulo Costa in their middleweight championship bout during UFC 253. Photo / Getty

Adesanya appeared to grab Costa by the back and thrust his hips forward aggressively.

Costa reacted to Adesanya's actions in a social media post.

"I come here to talk about the actions that the human trash did after our fight," Costa said during a video posted to his Instagram. "I didn't see when I was there [in] the cage but I saw now. I disapprove 100 percent. To me, this is [personal] now. Nobody will stop me. Nobody can stop me."

Costa requested a rematch, even suggesting that he was injured prior to the fight.

"I want my rematch. You know I am waiting for you. Something happened before the fight, I'm not [making] excuses here to my people, to my fans but I will be 100 percent to fight him and to make him pay. That's my word. Save my words."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paulo Costa (@borrachinhamma)

Adesanya was quick to respond on social media, saying: "I can stop you...again :) Dislike."

Costa is unlikely to get a rematch due to how one-sided the fight was and the long list of fighters keen to take Adesanya's belt off him.