Israel Adesanya, M.M.A. Star, Narrowly Avoids Drunk-Driving Conviction

Just weeks after being charged with driving under the influence in Auckland, New Zealand, last year, Israel Adesanya, a former two-time middleweight mixed martial arts champion, sought to project humility and remorse.

He immediately pleaded guilty, issued a public apology and declined to seek “name suppression,” where the news media is barred from publishing a defendant’s name, a common practice in New Zealand for the famous or moderately well known facing legal trouble.

These factors, along with what Mr. Adesanya described as the likely and disproportionate negative effects of a criminal conviction on his high-profile career, prompted a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the charges.

Judge Peter Winter of the Auckland District Court instead ordered Mr. Adesanya to donate 1,500 New Zealand dollars, or around $900, to a charity, suspended his driver’s license for six months, and ordered him to enroll in a drunk-driving cessation program by the end of 2024. Mr. Adesanya had previously been charged with, but not convicted of, driving while his license was suspended.

Hours later, Mr. Adesanya risked undoing some of the court’s good will by mocking prosecutors to his 8.5 million Instagram followers.

Mr. Adesanya posted photographs and videos taken from within the court — an illegal action in New Zealand — as well as video footage of a police prosecutor, against a soundtrack of a popular and offensive song by the American rapper Big Sean. The posts were later deleted.

The police in New Zealand said they were aware of the posts and would “liaise with the Court, which is responsible for security, about any next steps.”

In an Instagram story posted on Thursday, Mr. Adesanya ruminated on the importance of staying humble and avoiding