How is Israel Adesanya’s dog collar connected to Jet Li’s action thriller movie 'Unleashed'?
Israel Adesanya's appearance at UFC 287's pre-fight presser has raised questions amongst the MMA community as the former middleweight champion was seen sporting a metal dog collar.
Prior to this weekend's action, the main event fighters took part in a pre-fight press conference in front of fans in Miami. When Israel Adesanya was introduced to the stage, he appeared wearing a dog collar around his neck. The collar is a reference to the 2005 action film 'Unleashed', starring Jet Li.
Li's character Danny becomes a skilled fighter and martial artist once his collar is removed, which Adesanya is hoping to channel during his rematch with Alex Pereira.
"Once the collar is off, Danny [Jet Li] becomes a skilled fighter who relentlessly attacks his target."
When asked about his appearance, the No.1-ranked middleweight stated that he was a dog waiting to be unleashed, referencing the movie once again:
"I'm a dog, it's a dog collar and I'm about to be unleashed."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments here (14:00):
Israel Adesanya's coach has asked him to take the "shackles" off ahead of UFC 287
Eugene Bareman, coach of Israel Adesanya, recently spoke with ESPN's Megan Anderson ahead of Adesanya's rematch against Alex Pereira.
Bareman laid out what he believes will be 'The Last Stylebender's' path to victory. According to the award-winning coach, a lot of their work during the fight camp was overcoming mental hurdles, and Saturday night is their chance to prove that Adesanya is back to his best:
"I've asked Israel to look back to his past a little bit and kind of take the shackles off himself, mentally, and find, find some of the things he had in the past. I'm talking about his decision-making, his decision-making ability, the ability to flow in a fight, things he used to have when he was younger, things used to come a little bit more freely. I've asked him to find that."
Bareman added:
"I've asked him to look at some of his older fights. I'm not gonna say which ones obviously, but yeah, I've asked him to look at his older fights and find that fighter again, and amalgamate that with all the new skills he has added. If we can find that balance, we have a pretty good Israel heading into the fight."
Check out the full interview here (6:10):