Israel Adesanya considers his rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 as a do-or-die opportunity to exorcise his demons against the only opponent to ever knock him out in his career.
Israel Adesanya is well aware that his rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 is a do-or-die situation. With a 0-3 record against Pereira, despite being ahead in their previous fights, Adesanya knows that this might be his last chance to defeat the only opponent who has ever knocked him out. “This is my Eminem moment, my ‘8 Mile’ moment. You get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, and this is it. This is it for me,” he said during UFC 287 media day.
Adesanya has come close to victory in each of his previous three fights against Pereira, with the Brazilian staging comebacks to snatch the win last minute. It has been a one-sided rivalry, but Adesanya is confident that he’s doing everything right and just needs to prevent Pereira from making another miraculous comeback. “I know what works for me,” Adesanya said. “I know how I can beat this guy. I know every time I fight this guy, I’m beating him, and then he has this special ability to recover and put his foot on the gas. So I have to find a way to take him out of the driver’s seat, which I will.”
Adesanya, who was previously the middleweight champion, sees this fight as an opportunity to showcase his greatness despite people counting him out. “This is probably the greatest storyline in MMA history,” Adesanya said. “It’s probably one of, if not the greatest storyline in MMA history, and not many people get the opportunity to show how great they are, to rise to the occasion when all the odds are stacked against them, when people are counting them out.” Although Adesanya hasn’t been the underdog in any of his UFC fights and is favored over Pereira again at UFC 287, he refuses to believe the odds are on his side.
Determined to make an emphatic statement against Pereira and leave no doubt about who the better fighter is, Adesanya says, “Honestly, I’m the hunter now. I’ve just been hunting, in every sense of the word, and I’ll make sure when it’s time to fight, I’ll hunt him down. My target’s straight on him, nothing else. Anything else, not even him after this, I don’t care. I’m focused on right now. What if I butcher him and beat the f*** out of him… I do all this s*** and beat his ass, do some damage to him, it’s like, wow, amazing. Like I said, I don’t keep score, I settle them — and he who laughs last laughs best.”