The former Middleweight champion seemed to be implying he expects funny business from his UFC 287 opponent’s team between weigh-ins and fight night.
Israel Adesanya has issued a somewhat cryptic challenge to United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on the eve of his big rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 this weekend (Sat., April 8, 2023) in Miami, Florida.
“The Last Stylebender” has lost to “Poatan” twice in kickboxing and now once in mixed martial arts (MMA). Pereira took UFC’s 185-pound title from Adesanya at UFC 281, and this is the last crack he’ll get at his Brazilian nemesis. Maybe that’s why he seems so insistent that everything occur as fairly as possible and there’s no funny business going on.
“USADA, monitor us from the moment we get off the scale till we hit the arena on Saturday,” Adesanya wrote. “Have people take shifts if they have to … no loopholes to jump here.”
While there was no direct accusation, it certainly seems like Adesanya is accusing Pereira of funny business. If we were to guess, he might be suggesting the massive “Poatan” is using an I.V. to re-hydrate after a hard cut.
Adesanya’s pot-stirring teammate, Dan Hooker, dropped in on the tweet to add “Happy gambling,” into the mix with a laugh emoji.
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 (@stylebender) April 7, 2023
Happy gambling
— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) April 7, 2023
Hooker caused a lot of controversy after UFC 284 when he accused teammate Alexander Volkanovski’s opponent, Islam Makhachev, of using an IV to re-hydrate after weigh-ins. No proof was ever handed over to the Western Australia Combat Sports Commission, but Hooker stands by the claim.
Is this City Kickboxing making the same accusation against Alex Pereira?
Fans on Twitter were quick to call Izzy out for throwing accusations around, especially after he turned up with a slight case of gyno at UFC 253 and UFC 281. There’s a very small list of reasons a man would get that, and steroids are right at the top of the list. Still, Adesanya was tested by USADA 25 times in 2022, and it saw no funny business going on.
Then again, they haven’t seen any funny business with Alex Pereira, either. Yet here Adesanya is, seemingly impugning his honor leading up to their UFC 287 fight.
Is Adesanya right to be suspicious of Pereira, or is this just mental warfare from the former champ? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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