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Israel Adesanya isn't leaving anything to chance ahead of his rematch with Alex Pereira at UFC 287 next weekend.
In all of their combat sports clashes, there has been one recurring pattern between Adesanya and Pereira, and sadly for "The Last Stylebender," that there has been Pereira winning.
Before their recent confrontation in mixed martial arts (MMA) this past November 2022, the two fought thrice in kickboxing. Adesanya had a good lead through the first four and a half rounds of their UFC 281 fight before succumbing to a wild comeback effort from "Poatan" by technical knockout.
UFC 287 marks the culmination of the Pereira vs. Adesanya rivalry, and Adesanya believes it is his last chance to reclaim the Middleweight title.
“I’m hunting, and I mean that in every sense of the word,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “The mindset is different, definitely. Even [coach] Eugene [Bareman] and I are on the same page. The mindset is definitely different.
“I like it because it puts it all on me, and it’s kind of poetic in a way,” he concluded. “One life: Roll the dice. This is my last shot, and I’m going to give it all I’ve got in every sense of the word.”
Adesanya's loss against Pereira in November 2022 was only the second of his remarkable 25-fight career (his first at Middleweight). Pereira stormed his way to the top of the division in no time, winning his first three UFC fights in less than a year to earn his title chance.