Israel Adesanya made a bold statement by weighing in first for his rematch against defending champion Alex Pereira.
The Nigerian star will bid for immediate redemption on Saturday night when he challenges champion Pereira in a rematch in an attempt to regain his middleweight crown. The pair will do battle at UFC 287 in Miami just a matter of months on from the Brazilian's final-round stoppage win over 'The Last Stylebender'.
With just a day out until the huge main event, Adesanya weighed in at 184.5lb right at the start of two-hour window. The ex-champion looked in good shape and radiated confidence as he prepares to fight in arguably the biggest clash of his career.
Pereira eventually stepped on the scales at the end of the allotted time, weighing bang on the 185lb which could be down to his need to make a significant cut. The challenger's confident pre-fight statement is reflective of his words before the showdown, where he is prepared to make a huge statement inside the octagon.
“This is probably the greatest storyline in MMA history. It’s probably one of, if not the greatest storyline in MMA history,” Adesanya said. “Not many people get the opportunity to show how great they are, and for me, this fight, I feel like the underdog. I feel like everyone is counting me out. They forgot what I’ve done in this game.
"It’s time to remind people how great I am. “Now this is the point where I’m down two fights in kickboxing, one fight in MMA. I’m down three. What if I butcher him and beat the f**k out of him? I always do. I put him on his back, we’ll find out I do all this s**t and I beat his ass. Do some damage to him. Something amazing. Like I said, I don’t keep score. I settle them and he who laughs last, laughs best.”
Pereira could conquer the division for good with a second win over Adesanya, and he could even move up in weight if he progresses. And 'Poatan' believes he is the worst possible match-up for his long-term rival to need to overturn a loss against. He said: "The shoe is on the other foot. I’m not a good matchup for him. This is no different from the guys who tried many times to beat Israel but couldn’t.
"As soon as I was fighting Israel Adesanya, I knew I was going to be UFC champion. And I’m going to beat Israel again. I try to leave behind the two kickboxing fights, and so far I’m 1-0 in MMA [against Adesanya]. What I want to try now is to get to 2-0 same as I am in kickboxing. I think the evolution has been happening for the past two years, and I’ve been getting better and better.”
