Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya says his upcoming bout against Joe Pyfer at UFC Fight Night 271 in Seattle on March 28 carries a different kind of significance for him than it does for his opponent.
Currently on a three-fight skid, Adesanya explained that the stakes extend far beyond the result itself. Speaking in an interview on Combat TV, he described the matchup as a deeply personal test.
“I’ll say, for me, it’s not really about him; this is about me. This is the biggest fight of his life. It’s the biggest fight of my life in another way — not like it is for him, but as it is for me. I’ve been sitting at the top, still at the top, doing more than a lot of guys who are even champions,” he said.
The 36-year-old Nigerian-born star will enter the Octagon as a betting underdog for the first time in his professional career. He said he is motivated to quiet critics and reveal aspects of his skill set fans have yet to see.
“I always feel like I have something to prove. What I want to do in this fight is make people go, ‘He’s the GOAT.’ I want people to realise he’s that good even after a year off, after he’s down three fights in the skid,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“I feel like people haven’t seen my full array of skills yet. I just want to show off a lot of skills that I haven’t showed off yet. You’ll see me do things I’ve never done before because I feel like they’ll be presented to me.”
Adesanya, who owns the second-longest winning streak in UFC middleweight history behind Anderson Silva, brings a 24-5 professional record with 16 knockouts into the fight against the 14th-ranked Pyfer.
“I just feel unstoppable,” Adesanya said. “Everything I’ve done in this game has been for this moment in my life now. And now that it’s here, I just feel I can’t be messed with.”