Israel Adesanya has no plans to send his kids to school

06 September 2023

In a recent interview, UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya opened up about his unconventional upbringing and his perspective on education. Born in Nigeria, Adesanya moved to New Zealand at the age of 10 in pursuit of a better education. However, his journey eventually led him down a different path—one that would see him rise to become a world-class mixed martial artist.

Adesanya's experiences have shaped his views on education, and he doesn't hesitate to voice his reservations about the traditional schooling system. He expressed, "F—k school. I don't even know why we still have this whole f—king, just this outdated concept of school to just build workers. Because we know what the f—k school was made for. Why are we pretending? We know school was created to create workers."

The UFC champion went on to question the practicality of some subjects taught in schools, stating, "Bro, what the f—k is 'X'? Bro, I'm still waiting, still. I'm like, when have I in my life as an adult known what the f—k 'X' is? A lot of useless information passed on to me in school."

Adesanya's personal experiences in school, marked by his struggles with memorization, left him feeling that traditional education didn't provide the real-world skills he needed. He explained, "School doesn't teach you much, honestly. It teaches you the basics. I understand math, yes, English, comprehension, all that kind of stuff. But when it comes to social studies and algebra and calculus? I'm like, are you going to use those in the real world? So f—k school."

Instead of following the conventional path of sending his future children to public schools, Adesanya revealed his plan for their education. He stated, "My plan is, right, when I have kids, I'm going to have a tutor that's going to teach them from the age—at home—from the time, say, maybe, 9 am to mid-day or 1 pm. And they'll have an hour of homework, and the rest of the day we'll just go on adventures doing s—t."

One concern with homeschooling is the potential lack of socialization opportunities. Adesanya addressed this by emphasizing his intention to involve his children in sports like gymnastics and Jiu-Jitsu, ensuring they interact with peers and develop essential social skills. He explained, "I want to make sure that they have those kinds of skills by interacting with other kids through gymnastics or Jiu-Jitsu, or other activities."

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Adesanya's candid remarks reflect a growing debate over the effectiveness and relevance of traditional education methods in today's rapidly changing world. While his perspective may be unconventional, it underscores the need for ongoing discussions about how to best prepare the next generation for success, both academically and in life.