Israel Adesanya under arrest for being in possession of brass knuckles at JFK Airport

Israel Adesanya was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after being caught in possession of brass knuckles at JFK airport in New York City.

The arrest was made at around 1:57 pm by Port Authority Police Department after the former champion was pulled up while going through security according to TMZ.

In the state of New York, brass knuckles are deemed illegal, and if charged and convicted, Adesanya could face up to one year in jail, plus fines. It has not been reported where Adesanya had stored the brass knuckles.

The story is currently still developing, so it’s undetermined if Adesanya will be granted a Desk Appearance Ticket or if he’ll remain in custody.

Adesanya was travelling back to his homeland of New Zealand after losing the first fight of his middleweight reign. The Nigerian-born athlete was inches away from holding on to his gold strap before Pereira finished him with a flurry of punches against the cage.

(via Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

The loss marked the third time that Adesanya has tasted defeat to Pereira, but only the first in MMA. The Brazilian entered the Octagon on Saturday past holding two victories in kickboxing over Adesanya. ‘Stylebender’ was graceful in defeat and promised his fan’s he will be back stronger, but did reveal he would take some time off.

Stay tuned as the story develops on Israel Adesanya.