Israel Adesanya places staggering bet on Ireland vs New Zealand Rugby World Cup quarter-final; fans react

Fans have been reacting to Israel Adesanya's latest post on X, which displays the former middleweight champ bet a staggering amount of money on the New Zealand Rugby team.

The Nigerian New Zealander appears to be in high spirits following his one-sided loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last month. His defeat meant he had come up short in two of his last three bouts and he is now expected to take a significant time away from the octagon in order to regroup.

Despite the setback in the cage, it appears as though 'The Last Stylebender' is enjoying his time off by supporting his country. Adesanya has placed a $20,000 bet on the New Zealand rugby team to defeat Ireland in the quarter-final of the World Cup. New Zealand last won the tournament in 2015. He tweeted:

"It aint beef, we know what's at @stake"

Fans have been reacting to Israel Adesanya's post, with many surprised at the amount the UFC star is risking. One fan wrote:

"Damn this is huge"

An Irish fan even responded to the post, firmly claiming that 'Izzy' has backed the wrong team:

"Just lost your money!"

X user @kartoonistan suggested that making bold decisions after a loss is the norm, especially after losing a title:

"Yeah that’s what we do after losing belt"

Sean Strickland claims Israel Adesanya could have 'mental' problems

A month on from their bout, Sean Strickland is still riding high as the UFC middleweight champion. 'Tarzan' stunned the world at UFC 293 when he captured the title, easily defeating Israel Adesanya 4-1 across all three judges' scorecards.

Ahead of their clash, Strickland and Adesanya regularly traded blows with trash talk both in person and on social media. Strickland also took aim at Adesanya's recently deceased dog, which struck a nerve with Adesanya.

On the night of their fight, following his defeat, Israel Adesanya approached 'Tarzan' in the cage and demanded an apology for the comments made about his dog. Now, speaking about the situation on his Man Dance podcast, Strickland shared his thoughts on the interaction:

"He looks at me, and he's like, 'I would never make fun of your family', and I'm like...I don't know f**k about you. This is after the fight. He starts pointing at his neck, and he's like my f**king dog man, my dog.'"

Strickland added:

" I think the guy needs some help... Izzy, it's starting not to be funny anymore, cause as I'm starting to understand Izzy and his love of his dog, peanut butter and all, I'm starting to realize that, like, he could have some form of mental ret**dation, like there's something f**king wrong with this guy."