Quijano: Can Adesanya beat his bogeyman at UFC 287?

After their first UFC encounter, I referred to Alex Pereira as Israel Adesanya’s bogeyman.

At UFC 281, I picked Adesanya to prevail and avenge his two previous losses to Pereira in the kickboxing world.

Heading into the fight, Pereira had insisted that Adesanya was still bothered psychologically by his knockout loss and as it turned out, Pereira was right on the money.

Adesanya was ahead on the cards in a competitive fight at UFC 281, but Pereira managed to connect with a beautiful left hook followed up by an uppercut in the final round and knocked out a tired Adesanya.

UFC 287. Today, Adesanya seeks to regain his UFC belt as he faces off again with Pereira. Can he finally do it and defeat his bogeyman?

The talented Adesanya is one of the best in the sport with a skill set most fighters can only dream of.

In terms of physical skills , you could argue he’s even better than Pereira. But there’s so much more to fighting than the physical aspect of it. To defeat Pereira he has to get past that mental hump and sort out his personal demons when it comes to his archrival.

At the press conference for UFC 287, Adesanya showed up wearing a sarong and a dog collar around his neck.

When asked about his outlandish outfit, he replied that he was a dog and was waiting to be unleashed.

Mental games? Of course, as we know the “Style-bender” is no stranger to fanciful gimmickry. In fact, this forms a huge part of his fighting persona.

But in this case, it does seem too contrived, and it came across as cringeworthy. Methinks he was trying to convince himself rather than the rest of the world that he has what it takes to finally beat Pereira.

The only thing beautiful about having an antagonist is that fight fans are ultimately benefited. If these two would fight each other 10 times, Adesanya would probably win four out of 10. Will UFC 287 be one of those times?

We shall see. I just think Pereira has his number. But you can bet Israel Adesanya will keep on trying. And it will be quite fun to see him try.

VERBATIM. “F**k the belt. I’m going to rip his head off. I’m a dog on a leash and I’m about to be let loose.” - Israel Adesanya (www.bjpenn.com)

LAST ROUNDS. Are on Nini Gonzales and Jenny Cokim who both turn a milestone this week. Happy birthday and cheers, lovely ladies. Cheers!