UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Breakers star Tom Abercrombie have found they both faced similar struggles despite being in vastly different sporting arenas.
Adesanya and Abercombie on Thursday were promoting the upcoming celebrity basketball game they're playing in when things took a turn.
The pair’s discussion went from helping others to helping themselves.
“We're humans just like everyone else and sport just happens to be our job,” Abercrombie said.
“I am a human being and I have a mentality,” Adesanya said in response.
As the pair continued to talk, they found out they have a lot more in common than people think.
“Ninety per cent of the time, we keep it internal and try and fix these problems ourselves,” Abercrombie said.
“If you don't feel mentally well, just take a day off and just regroup or do things to fill your cup to make yourself feel good,” Adesanya added.
“You can think you're dealing with things as well as possible but I think all professional athletes deal with something in some degree,” Abercrombie then replied.
“It's there bubbling away under the surface. It can manifest itself in different ways at different times.”
The pair see next month's gathering of this country's biggest names on a basketball court as a way to continue important conversations while raising money for Make-A-Wish New Zealand.
“A lot of these things don't make a good story so they don't get publicised but in all honesty, we're not doing it for publicity,” Abercrombie said.
“Guys who are doing it for the right reasons don't need that validation.”
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