Israel Adesanya breaks down what he needs to do to beat Alex Pereira at UFC 287
Israel Adesanya weighed in on his upcoming rematch with Alex Pereira as he looks to regain the middleweight championship this Saturday (April 8) at UFC 287.
While speaking to the media during his media day availability, Adesanya broke down their previous bout and detailed where he was having success. He mentioned that he was winning the fight, but Pereira has a special ability to rally back, which he showed in their kickboxing bouts as well.
He said:
"I know what works for me, I know how I could beat this guy. I know every time I fight this guy, I'm dominating him, 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."
'Izzy' also spoke about 'Poatan' beating him in kickboxing and then following him to MMA. He mentioned that it doesn't bother him and for this fight, he has remained focused solely on avenging his loss, saying:
"It doesn't bother me, it doesn't annoy me. I focus on me, I don't focus on anyone else. You know, when it's time to fight, I focus on who's infront of me. Most times, I'm always peeking around the corner, even you guys know, I set up my next fight sometimes...This time, I have no idea what's next, I haven't even looked around the corner."
It will be interesting to see whether Adesnaya can finally put Pereira behind him and avenge his title loss as well as his two prior kickboxing losses to the reigning middleweight champion.
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Alex Pereira shares his views on trash talking ahead of his rematch with Israel Adesanya
Alex Pereira is focused on putting a definitive end to his rivalry with Israel Adesanya as he prepares to fight him for the fourth time in his combat sports career.
During episode #2 of UFC 287: Embedded, Pereira opened up about his training methods and mentioned that he isn't too keen on the trash-talking aspect of the fight as it pertains to Adesanya and his other opponents in general, saying:
"I do like the training, I do like fighting, but this trash talk part, I have a hard time doing it. I don't like doing it. My thing is to train and to do what you just saw. That's what I love and what I know how to do. I do it very well." [1:03 - 1:35]
The former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion will look to make his first successful UFC title defense against his longtime rival and make it 4-0 against Adesanya.