Israel Adesanya's coach lied about getting the UFC star a fight following his brutal kickboxing KO loss to Alex Pereira in 2017.
'The Last Stylebender' will face arguably his biggest UFC middleweight title defence yet when he takes on former two-time kickboxing rival Pereira this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden headlining UFC 281. Adesanya has already faced the Brazilian twice during his time in the professional kickboxing ranks, losing on both occasions in 2016 and 2017 with the second one seeing him knocked out cold for the first time.
Adesanya took time away from competitive fighting action before returning and going on a winning streak in MMA where he eventually signed for the UFC. And the 33-year-old's coach Eugene Bareman insisted he rejected opportunities for his star to fight to serve as his own medical suspension for fighters.
"I would've given him close to a year, almost a year," Bareman said during an interview on the MMA Hour when discussing the aftermath of Adesanya's KO loss to Pereira. "And to be honest, I'll admit there would've been times when I lied about getting him a fight. He would've come back after three; it's been a long time, but three months, six months, he would ask for a fight.
"And I would've just said to him, I said, 'Look, there's no fight available right now. I can't get you a fight. No one wants to fight you.' And it would've been a bald-faced lie, but my lies had good intentions."
'Poatan' has used his KO of Adesanya as a weapon to motivate himself to a UFC title shot since signing with the promotion. After just three successive wins, 'Poatan' has been declared as the challenger to Adesanya's throne with huge expectations on his shoulders.
Who wins this weekend - Israel Adesanya or Alex Pereira? Let us know in the comments section below
The build-up has seen the kickboxing stoppage regularly used as ammunition to trade verbal barbs by Pereira, who is confident he can become the man to hand Adesanya his first loss at 185lb. However the popular star believes his rival will "start to fold" providing he pushes the pace and follows his strategy.
“I honestly think within the first five minutes, even within the first three minutes, the pace that we’re gonna bring he’s not gonna be able to keep that,” Adesanya told AllStar. “In the first round, you’re gonna see him start to fold, he’s not gonna be able to keep that high pace.
"I know the kinda pace I can bring. He’s not gonna last. If this fight has to go each round, until someone falls. Trust me, I know who’s gonna stand. I know who’s gonna be left standing.
"There’s a little extra motivation, definitely," he added. "Now that it’s here, I didn’t ask for it, the universe bestowed this upon me and it’s a great opportunity to rewrite history. I don’t react. I’m like ‘what do you want from me?’ He wants me to react. I don’t react. I will respond with violence when it’s time.”
