Israel Adesanya asks USADA to be on alert in cryptic tweet ahead of UFC 287
Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira are set to clash at UFC 287 this weekend in a rematch for the middleweight title. 'The Last Stylebender' will look to regain his strap after getting dethroned by the Brazilian at UFC 281 last November in a last-round upset loss.
Adesanya plans to unleash the dog inside him, having admitted that this might be his last shot at avenging his losses to 'Poatan'. However, the former UFC champion seemingly has some concerns about his opponent bending some rules going into the fight.
Adesanya believes it is imperative that the USADA constantly monitors every fighter from the time they weigh in till the time they enter the octagon. 'The Last Stylebender' wrote in a cryptic tweet:
"USADA, monitor us from the moment we get off the scale till we hit the arena on Saturday. Have people take shifts if they have to…no loopholes to jump here."
USADA, monitor us from the moment we get off the scale till we hit the arena on Saturday. Have people take shifts if they have to…no loopholes to jump here.
Israel Adesanya might be alluding to potential IV use, which is banned if the quantity administered exceeds 100 milliliters within a 12-hour period. Dan Hooker made similar allegations against Islam Makhachev after the latter's UFC 284 win over Alexander Volkanovski.
One of the reasons behind the IV ban is to prevent fighters from becoming 'weight bullies' by rehydrating themselves quickly after a weight cut.
Alex Pereira believes Israel Adesanya is making a mistake with immediate UFC 287 rematch
Alex Pereira has two wins over Israel Adesanya under the GLORY kickboxing banner, including a 2017 knockout. While Adesanya overcame those losses and went on to build his own legacy in MMA, Pereira took away his UFC middleweight strap last November, establishing himself as 'The Last Stylebender's kryptonite.
According to 'Poatan', it wasn't wise of Adesanya to seek an immediate rematch despite going 3-0 against him. The Brazilian said during the UFC 287 media day:
"If he was on my team, I would tell him, ‘Man, don’t do this fight now.' He’s had a brilliant career but he saw there’s no success against me, so I would definitely advise him against doing this fight now. Fight once or twice, and then come back and try again.”
Catch Alex Pereira's comments below: