NRL: NZ Warriors savour surprise training session with UFC world champion Israel Adesanya

Hooker Freddy Lussick was one of the many Warriors players whose jaws dropped to the mat at the start of their weekly wrestling practice on Monday.

UFC world champion Israel Adesanya tagged along with his City Kickboxing teammate and UFC flyweight contender Kai Kara-France, who's taken up a role as the NRL side's wrestling coach alongside veteran fighter John Vake.

One of the greatest middleweights in MMA history, 'The Last Stylebender' donned some Warriors gear and took to the mats to impart some valuable wisdom to his star-struck audience.

Tohu Harris and Israel Adesanya.
Tohu Harris and Israel Adesanya. Photo credit: Instagram/@NZWarriors

He then addressed the team as a whole, sharing some of the valuable lessons he'd learned in his meteoric rise to one of the planet's biggest combat stars.

"That was pretty surreal," said Lussick. "It definitely caught us all off guard, we had no idea that he was coming in.

"He wanted to come train with us and see what it was about. It was an awesome experience to have him around."

First popularised by Craig Bellamy's Melbourne Storm, teams across the NRL have embraced the sport's introduction to their training regimes as a way to manipulate players in the tackle and gain an edge at the play of the ball.

Captain Tohu Harris had the honour of being the first player to square off with the two-time UFC world champion, who's just a couple of months removed from his incredible knockout win against Alex Pereira to recapture the middleweight belt.

Sporting a huge grin, Harris admitted it had been a humbling experience.

"I was no chance in hell of getting him down," said the hulking forward. "I got mangled up there a couple of times but it was fun, it was a good experience.

"Being able to go up against someone that high level in their field, it's always a good experience. I hope he gets to come back and towel a few of us up again."

Adesanya is expected to defend his belt against the winner of July's No. 1 contender showdown between Robert Whittaker and Dricus DuPlessis, when the UFC returns to Sydney on September 10.

Kara-France will be back in the Octagon next weekend, taking on Amir Albazi in the headline act of the UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.

The Warriors return from their bye week to face Brisbane Broncos in Napier on Saturday.

Join Newshub for live updates of NZ Warriors v Brisbane Broncos at 7pm, Saturday.