Adesanya to press charges after altercation with driver

Warning: Video contains coarse language

Israel Adesanya plans to take legal action against a man whom the former UFC middleweight champion says made racist comments and provoked him during an altercation on the street Wednesday in Auckland, New Zealand.

Video surfaced earlier this week of Adesanya getting into a heated argument with another driver. The fighter addressed the situation in a statement to The New Zealand Herald's Winston Aldworth.

"I am extremely disappointed after an incident on Wednesday when a random member of the public stopped his car, racially abused me, and challenged me to a fight," Adesanya said. "We have been in contact with police and will be pressing charges."

Adesanya said he initially smiled, brushed off the remarks, and continued to his car before the man parked his vehicle, got out, and approached Adesanya "aggressively."

"I tried to de-escalate the situation repeatedly," Adesanya said. "As he got closer, I asked bystanders to call the police.

"He then entered my personal space, and I felt threatened. To protect myself, I became more forceful in my language and defensive. Though he paused, the abuse continued, so I left him with some choice words, cautiously moved to my car, and drove away."

He added: "It's ridiculous that I can't buy a pie after training without some idiot screaming despicable things and asking for a fight while his mates film from the sidelines.

"Threatening violence is no joke. It's very dangerous, and incidents like this must not be glorified online. I hope in the future people say something rather than get their phones out to film."

Adesanya was born in Nigeria but lives in Auckland. He's coming off a fourth-round submission defeat to middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in an attempt to become a three-time titleholder at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. "The Last Stylebender" has lost two in a row.