Israel Adesanya explains his decision for quick rematch with Alex Pereira at UFC 287: “I’m not one of these guys who just chills”

Israel Adesanya is explaining his decision to accept a quick turnaround rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287.

UFC 287 takes place on Saturday, April 8th in Miami, Florida. The event will be headlined by a UFC middleweight championship rematch between current champion Alex Pereira (7-1 MMA) and former champion Israel Adesanya (23-2 MMA). The pair previously met at UFC 281 in November of last year where it was Pereira who captured the title by a fifth-round knockout.

‘Poatan’ actually now has three wins over ‘The Last Stylebender‘, two of which came in kickboxing.

(via Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

During a recent interview with The MacLife, Israel Adesanya explained his decision to accept the quick turnaround.

“I’m not one of these guys who just chills,” Adesanya said (h/t MMAJunkie). “I can duck this guy or wait for this guy or wait for this guy to do this. Nah. Who’s ready to fight? I roll the dice.”

Israel Adesanya continued:

“He’s got bragging rights. I got the opportunity to claim it back, but I’m going to say less and do more. … After this fight, I bet you he’s going to move to 205 (pounds). So, this is my shot, and this is why I’m putting everything into this.

“This is a part of my story. In any story, there are valleys. Also, for him, one man’s hero is another man’s villain. If you look at his life from his point of view, I’m the villain. I’m the guy – the underdog that he beat. I went to the UFC, he chased me, got me, beat me. So, this is my story now. This is my time for his story.”

While Israel Adesanya says he is not one of these guys that just chills, UFC commentator Daniel Cormier had a different theory behind Izzy’s quick turnaround.

“Maybe he’s worried that if Pereira fights someone else, he loses. Izzy still holds a ton of cards but I just questioned whether or not the decisions being made are based – or the timing of the decision is based on this newfound push that Alex has been experiencing because of Jamahal being the champion and beating his mentor and training partner in Glover Teixeira. It just didn’t feel like this was in the works before.”

Do you think Israel Adesanya will be able to defeat Alex Pereira on April 8th in Miami? Share your predictions in the comment section PENN Nation!