Collecting friends like the Infinity Stones, Israel Adesanya appears to be in a monk-like mood lately, going around making friends out of his former rivals. On the sidelines of UFC 312, we saw Adesanya spending time with his nemesis, Alex Pereira. Moments later, he was congratulating Kelvin Gastelum on his Fight Wing Hall of Fame induction. As if that wasn’t enough, Adesanya has also quashed his long-standing beef with referee Marc Goddard in his latest escapade.

‘StyleBender’ revealed a rather heartwarming interaction with Marc Goddard in his latest Instagram post. In the video, we could witness Adesanya and Marc Goddard coming towards each other and as soon as the former middleweight champion saw Goddard, he hugged him and asked, “How are you doing, bro? Nice to see you again away from the cage.” Responding to ‘Stylebender,’ the referee emphasized that he is sorry for what happened at UFC Saudi Arabia, “No, man, I’m f—- sorry, man.”

So, why was Goddard apologizing to Adesanya? At UFC Saudi Arabia last week, during Israel Adesanya’s fight against Nassourdine Imavov, referee Marc Goddard stepped in during the second round just as Imavov landed a heavy right hand that sent Adesanya to the floor. Imavov followed up by mounting the former middleweight champion and unleashing a relentless ground-and-pound assault. Goddard intervened, stopping the fight and awarding the victory to Imavov. However, many believed it was an early stoppage, as Adesanya did not appear to be seriously hurt.

But this was not the only early stoppage concern he had with Goddard. Back at UFC 281, Alex Pereira caught ‘Izzy’ with the left hook in the final round. He started teeing off on Adesanya who had his back against the cage. Goddard stepped in after a few seconds and awarded the win to ‘Stylebender’ who was still on his feet and trying his best to avoid going down. And the Nigerian-Kiwi star still disputes that stoppage.

Responding to Marc Goddard’s apology, Israel Adesanya emphasized that he did the right thing, “Don’t be. Hey, I will tell you one thing—the one in New York, I was like, “Ehh,” but this one’s good. Do you know why? I wasn’t there; I was moving. It was all instincts.” These reassuring words from the former middleweight champion of the world were taken as a grace by the referee as he underscored he never wanted to stop any of the fights but out of his duty, he has to do it.

And Adesanya is not the only fighter who has had this issue with Goddard. Former interim welterweight champ Colby Covington calls him Marc ‘No-‘Goddard, implying he’s no good at his job. Why? Because he thought Goddard stopped his first title fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 prematurely. It was the final round and Colby had done a good enough job up until the stoppage. He was dropped and Usman was pummeling him and Goddard stepped in.

In the end, ‘Stylebender’ asserted that it’s better not to heed unnecessary criticism, “Don’t preach to the choir. You are preaching to the choir. F— whatever they say.” Adesanya is known for holding no grudges after his fights, and his recent interactions further prove it. However, was it an early stoppage at UFC Saudi Arabia? Let’s find out what the former UFC champ had to say in this.

Israel Adesanya undermines early stoppage accusations

Marc Goddard did the right thing by stopping the fight as the ground and pound could have seriously hampered Adesanya’s health in the long term. Given that, when Laura Sanko asked the former two-times middleweight champion about the early stoppage accusations, she was given a straightforward answer by Israel Adesanya, “Fair. Fair game, fair game. –ck […] Well, that’s how the game goes.”

He further added, “One shot to kill a legend. I’m still alive.” Adesanya has been pondering the thought of retirement and the fans were terrified that their favorite UFC  star might seriously consider retirement after being defeated three times in a row. However, Adesanya expressed through his Instagram handle that he would return to the Octagon again, writing, “Rolled the dice… snake eyes. I’ll be back, gone to get some milk.”

It must be noted that there were some eye-pokes at the UFC Saudi Arabia event as well and Adesanya instead of taking a recovery break came back to the fight immediately. What followed was a cold-blood knockout. Well, the former champ is making his wrongs right but confronting his past. Given that, what are your thoughts on this wholesome Israel Adesanya? State your thoughts in the comments below.