Mixed Martial Arts superstar Israel Adesanya is thrilled to be an ambassador of a collaboration between fightwear brand Engage and new videogame Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
The Nigerian-Kiwi professional fighter and gaming enthusiast is currently trapped in the US, due to COVID-19, after travelling with teammate Brad Riddell to assist Carlos Ulberg in his UFC debut at Las Vegas earlier this month.
Adesanya says he was a fan of the original Black Ops and is looking forward to playing Cold War after he returns to New Zealand.
"Unfortunately, I'm still stuck out in the US, but I have a PS5 waiting for me at home," he tells Newshub. "I don't want to play this on the PS4 - I really want to experience it on next-gen, so I'm looking forward to getting home and playing."
Adesanya wears the Cold War/Engage gear in promotional photos published online along with fellow Kiwi fighters Ulberg, Riddell and Kai Kara France, and Australian Alex Volkanovski.
The capsule collection includes MMA grapple shorts, a T-shirt, boxing gloves, and a front-pack. It's not for sale, but is being given away as a promotion people can enter to win - and Adesanya is stoked to be involved.
"To be honest, it's pretty dope for me - just as a fan of the Call of Duty franchise and seeing the rise of Engage from the grassroots to get from the jungles of Thailand to now collab with one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world," he says.
"Personally, I'm just proud of Engage, but I'm also proud of Call of Duty for seeing the opportunity that there was some magic to be made here. It's pretty dope to be a part of that and to be able to witness that it's happening."
While he is currently the UFC middleweight champion, Adesanya says he's not the best Call of Duty player of the MMA stars involved in the promotion.
"Brad [is the best player], definitely Brad, he puts some rounds in. He's playing Warzone with his brothers all the time. I'm gonna give it to him."
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was released last week, while entries for the Engage promotion close in the early hours of Saturday morning (NZDT).
