Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya pleaded guilty to drunk driving in New Zealand on Monday morning, according to ESPN's Marc Raimondi.
Adesanya was driving home after a dinner with friends in Auckland, New Zealand, on Aug. 19 when he “encountered a Random Breath Testing unit,” his team told ESPN. He was driving with 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood when he was stopped — which is over the legal limit of 50 milligrams, or a blood alcohol content of 0.05%, in the country. By comparison, the legal driving limit in much of the United States is 0.08%.
Adesanya, 34, is due to return to court for sentencing on Jan. 10. The maximum penalty for a drunk driving charge in New Zealand is three months in jail or a $2,680 fine.
"I want to apologize to the community, my family and my team for the decision I made to get behind the wheel after drinking at a dinner," Adesanya said in a statement, <a class="rapid-with-clickid" data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:ESPN;elmt:;cpos:2;pos:1" data-original-link="https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/38484214/ex-ufc-champ-israel-adesanya-pleads-guilty-drunk-driving" href="https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=8b9dfafd-e7b1-4ac1-bb73-50d55c74d82d&siteId=us-sports&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=ESPN&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5lc3BuLmNvbS9tbWEvc3RvcnkvXy9pZC8zODQ4NDIxNC9leC11ZmMtY2hhbXAtaXNyYWVsLWFkZXNhbnlhLXBsZWFkcy1ndWlsdHktZHJ1bmstZHJpdmluZyIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiZjNlZGZiZmYtN2I4NC00ODgxLWJhNDItNGZjMGNjNjdkYjY1In0&signature=AQAAAe3l8pOkkyFPYGwqnBZ-yU_EF_R47pLmo9VVBQ4AFxnS&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fmma%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F38484214%2Fex-ufc-champ-israel-adesanya-pleads-guilty-drunk-driving">via ESPN</a>. "I am disappointed with my decision to drive, it was wrong. I know that people might follow me and I want them to know I do not think this behavior is acceptable."
Adesanya lost his middleweight title in a stunning upset earlier this month at UFC 293. Sean Strickland dropped Adesanya in the first round of their title fight in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 9 and then won by unanimous decision to claim the belt. The fight took place three weeks after Adesanya was stopped.
Adesanya, who is still widely considered to be one of the best fighters in his weight class in the history of the sport, holds a 24-3 record. He’s lost two of his last three bouts, with the first loss in that stretch coming against Alex Pereira last November. Adesanya avenged that loss in April. It’s unclear when Adesanya will fight next.