Israel Adesanya was caught doing a bit of daydreaming during his UFC 287 media appearance this week.
The Last Stylebender’ is scheduled for a high-stakes rematch with Alex Pereira, the man he’s failed to defeat on three separate occasions thus far. Adesanya will enter the Octagon on Saturday night for what he believes will be his last chance at redemption with UFC gold hanging in the balance.
Going into what he considers his ‘8 Mile’ moment, Israel Adesanya was caught doing a bit of daydreaming, imagining how the world, and himself, would react should he turn the world on its axis and dominate Alex Pereira at Miami-Dade Arena.
“This is my Eminem moment. My ‘8 Mile’ moment. You get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime and this is it, Adesanya said during a UFC 287 media event. “This is it for me. Imagine if I get it done. What if I get it done better than he’s ever done it? What if I butcher him and beat the f*ck out of him? Because I always do, but I just ramp it up now. I don’t let him get any breath and I take him out. I put him on his back. We’ll find out. I do all this sh*t and I beat his a**. Do some damage to him and it’s just like, ‘Wow. Amazing.’”
Adesanya's plan against Pereira is simple
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Israel Adesanya is Ready to Settle the Score at UFC 287
To Israel Adesanya’s credit, he has looked very good throughout his contests against Alex Pereira under the GLORY Kickboxing and UFC banners, up until the moment he’s rendered unconscious. In their UFC 281 clash, ‘Stylebender’ nearly finished Pereira in the closing seconds of the first round and was mere minutes away from a decision victory before Pereira turned up the heat and delivered a shocking fifth-round KO to capture the UFC middleweight title.
However, Adesanya is not living in the past. He’s not thinking about what could have been. He doesn’t care about what came before. He is only focused on what lies ahead.
“I don’t keep score, I settle them and he who laughs last laughs best,” Adesanya concluded.