"My 8 Mile moment" - Israel Adesanya quotes rapper Eminem, Alex Pereira laughs off
Israel Adesanya appears to be taking inspiration from legendary musical artist Eminem for his highly-anticipated rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 this weekend.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi is preparing for perhaps the biggest fight of his career as he looks to recapture the middleweight title just five months after losing it to Pereira via a shocking fifth-round knockout loss at UFC 281. Adesanya will also look to redeem his past three combat sports losses to the hard-hitting Brazilian.
At the recent UFC 287 press conference, Israel Adesanya referenced Eminem's Oscar-winning film '8 Mile' to iterate his focus on getting his payback. He claimed:
"This fight is my 8-mile moment. This is it. One more shot at this. I put everything on my back, everything in my power to do the worst thing to this man this weekend."
For context, the film '8 Mile' portrays Eminem's own story as he overcame his losses in life to make it big in the end.
While Israel Adesanya maintained his intensity during the presser, Alex Pereira nonchalantly laughed him off and wasn't intimidated by the former middleweight champion's source of inspiration. He spoke through a translator, saying:
"Who did this the past three fights? He said the same things... He makes me laugh"
Who will have the last laugh come Sunday? 👀
The presser got a little bit spicy for @AlexPereiraUFC and @Stylebender! #UFC287 https://t.co/gaXn9NBX9P
UFC 287: Alex Pereira claims Israel Adesanya should have waited longer for rematch
Alex Pereira thinks that Israel Adesanya shouldn't be rematching him so soon after their last meeting.
'The Last Stylebender' seems to have found himself a personal 'boogeyman.' The Nigerian-born Kiwi hasn't been able to unravel the puzzle that is Alex Pereira in kickboxing or MMA. 'Poatan' also remains the only fighter to knockout Adesanya and do it twice.
When the two rivals faced each other at UFC 281, it looked like Adesanya was comfortably on his way to a decision victory. However, Pereira unexpectedly caught him against the cage in the fifth round and knocked him out with a barrage of unanswered strikes to capture the middleweight belt.
Due to how close Adesanya came to beating Pereira last time around, an immediate rematch seemed to be expected. However, Pereira believes Israel Adesanya should've waited longer.
At the UFC 287 media day, 'Poatan' addressed Adesanya's keenness for a fourth fight and said:
"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."
Watch the full interview below: