"I wanna hear that 50 times before they drag me off him" - UFC Champion Israel Adesanya wants referee Steve Mazzagatti to come back for his fight against Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya will look to defend his middleweight belt for the sixth time at UFC 281 against Alex Pereira, a familiar opponent from his kickboxing days. The No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter had a special request for UFC President Dana White ahead of his upcoming bout.

As announced on @SportsCenter, we have a 𝑴𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 main event set for MSG 🍎

@Stylebender vs Alex Pereira is confirmed for #UFC281!

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Speaking on his YouTube channel, FREESTYLEBENDER, Adesanya shared that his he is focused leading up to his fight with 'Poatan':

"I'm focused solely on this guy. These other last three guys I knew I was gonna beat them [Vettori, Whittaker, Cannonier]. This guy [Pereira], I know I can beat him, but it's because of the reality in this realm, in this timeline. He's beaten me in the past so there's no false sense of arrogance and I have to humble myself in a sense of like 'Nah, he can beat me, but I know I can beat him.' That last fight we had I was touching him, I had him rocked."

Adesanya added a request:

"Dana, bring back Steve Mazzagatti. Bring back Steve Mazzagatti to ref my fight because I want to hear 'fight back' as I'm punching him in the face like 50 times. I want to hear 'Fight back, you need to move Alex, you need to move, fight back, now hook him up.' I wanna hear that like 50 times before they drag me off of him."

Steve Mazzagatti was known for letting fights continue much past the point where they should have been stopped. Adesanya's desire to have him as the official gives off the impression that his meeting with Pereira is much more personal than any of his previous fights.

Watch Israel Adesanya's comments below (starting at the 15:25 mark):

Israel Adesanya shares his vision for UFC 281

Israel Adesanya has lost two fights to Alex Pereira in kickboxing, including the only knockout loss of his career. With the two fighters set to face off for the first time in mixed martial arts, the middleweight champion shared his plans for the matchup.

🇧🇷 Pereira KO’s Adesanya 🇳🇬 = 💣
⏱ Round 3 Knockout (0:42)
🇧🇷 Glory Of Heroes 7
🗓 4th March 2017
🏟 Ginásio do Ibirapuera
🎥: Glory Of Heroes https://t.co/A2EvHgF6ds

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Adesanya stated:

"I want to be the first person he sees when he wakes up. I want to make sure I'm right in his line of sight so when he wakes up he's looking at me and then looking at the ref, but I want to be the first person he sees when he wakes up. That's how I see this fight going."

Adesanya will enter the UFC middleweight title fight looking to avenge his two kickboxing losses, while Pereira will look to be the first mixed martial arts middleweight to defeat Adesanya.

Watch Israel Adesanya's comments below (starting at the 5:05 mark):