Israel Adesanya received a "ruthless" speech from his coach which he deemed not "necessary" ahead of his UFC fight with Alex Pereira.
'The Last Stylebender' will defend his UFC middleweight title against one of his toughest challengers yet in the shape of former two- time kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at Madison Square Garden. The UFC 281 clash will represent a huge shot at redemption for Adesanya who lost to the Brazilian twice in 2016 and 2017 with the latter by KO.
In recent fights, Adesanya has faced heavy criticism from other fighters and fans who have accused the champion of making "boring" contests with no stoppage in his last three wins. And his City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman has adopted a strict and aggressive training method, which Adesanya believes has paid off.
"I remember the speech, it was quite ruthless. At the time, I was like what the f***," Adesanya said during an appearance on the MMA Hour when discussing his coach Bareman's approach to the UFC 281 training camp. "The work was necessary, but the energy behind it... For me, it wasn't necessary, but I'm still glad it happened because even after the final work. I finally said, 'Thank you for what you did.'
"So I'm grateful for what he did for this camp because I guess we needed it. It's not necessary, but it's his way of still ensuring that I am. With all the money and all the success that I have, if I was going to change, I would've changed a long time ago. A long time ago, but I don't because I am who I am so yeah, it wasn't necessary, but it was needed."
Adesanya outpointed Jarod Cannonier in his previous outing back in July where he was heavily criticised with fans even suggesting they would no longer buy his pay-per-view fights. However, his upcoming outing is likely to spark the imagination given the pair's fiery rivalry and the war of words that has occupied the build-up so far.
Will Israel Adesanya KO Alex Pereira? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
Pereira has regularly been teasing his opponent online with footage of the infamous kickboxing KO in addition to training videos, which is likely fo fuel Adesanya's desire to earn his own stoppage. But the Nigerian star has admitted he plans to stay focused on the octagon meeting rather than be dragged into verbal battles during fight week.
"The Khabib-Conor fight. I felt like Conor [McGregor] used the wrong strategy," Adesanya continued. "If he had attacked that a little bit differently – because he was the closest to beating Khabib [Nurmagomedov] as well. There was a lot of energy wasted leading up to the fight but that’s just my observation, I’m not in their shoes. [Wasting energy going after Pereira].
"It’s stupid. What’s the point? He’s using that all right now. I guess I’m not like everyone else. The past fights they never annoyed me. It bothered me the fact that I didn’t stay true to my style. And then I was running out of money."
