Israel Adesanya admits UFC 287 is his ‘last chance’ to banish the demons and exact revenge over old rival Alex Pereira.
The Brazilian beat Adesanya – having already done so twice in kickboxing – when the pair renewed their acquaintance for the UFC middleweight title last year.
Miami plays host to the rematch next Saturday and Adesanya, who had looked supreme as champion is now enjoying being the hunter rather than hunted.’
“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. 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.”
Pereira was losing on the scorecards in their last battle until the fifth round, when the powerful Brazilian upped the aggression and forced a stoppage.
Adesanya had never lost at middleweight before that night and having performed so well, will only make minor tweaks to the gameplan this time.
His coach Eugene Bareman told It’s Time For Sports: ‘One of the hardest things in the sport is to fight someone like Pereira. People like him don’t really exist.
“In your fighting career, you will fight one or two guys like that. One George Foreman, one Mike Tyson.
“If you’re lucky you’ll fight one of them. It is one of the hardest things to do in the sport because even though you see many clear paths to victory, they have a special gift. And that special gift is powerful.
“The ability to take you out with one shot has to be respected and is a superpower that not everybody has.
“So I understand the magnitude of what we’re trying to do and we’re up for the challenge.”
