Max Holloway, former UFC featherweight champion, was recently in attendance for the premiere of Israel Adesanya’s documentary, “Stylebender”, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The documentary details the life of Adensanya, from his childhood to his career as a fighter, and features his work with mental health professionals.

Adesanya himself has praised the documentary for its discussion of mental health and has suggested that “men need to see this film”. Holloway was similarly impressed, stating that the documentary was “amazing” and that he can’t wait for others to see it. He also noted the vulnerability shown by Adesanya and coach Eugene Bareman, which opened his eyes to a different view of the struggles faced by fighters.

Despite struggling with issues related to mental health himself, Holloway admitted that he had been resistant to seeking treatment. However, after seeing how Adesanya had benefitted from therapy, Holloway is now considering setting up sessions for himself.

While he admitted to feeling depressed after a string of unfortunate events in 2018, such as the repeated cancellation of his fight with Frankie Edgar and losing a shot at the vacant light title against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Holloway believes that his experience has made him stronger. He urged others going through tough times to remember that “without the rain there wouldn’t be a rainbow”.

It is worth noting that Holloway and Adesanya are not close friends, but they do share a manager, Tim Simpson, which is how Holloway ended up attending the premiere of “Stylebender”. The message of the documentary, however, was important for Holloway on a personal level.

The documentary provided him with a different perspective on the struggles faced by fighters, and made him realize that therapy might be beneficial for him. He noted that Adesanya had talked to many different people and had benefited greatly from therapy, despite being initially sceptical about it.

Holloway admitted that he had fought against the idea of therapy himself, but seeing how it had helped Adesanya made him rethink his stance. Holloway is set to face The Korean Zombie in the main event of UFC Singapore on Aug. 26.

While Holloway is one of the UFC’s most beloved fighters, he is not immune to the struggles faced by many professional athletes. Mental health has been a topic of discussion within the UFC for several years, with fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tyson Fury.