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Israel Adesanya is arguably approaching the biggest fight of his combat sports career when he collides for the second time with Alex Pereira in the octagon. Former title challenger Chael Sonnen has taken the opportunity to give the fan-favorite some advice.
'Poatan' has a knack for shocking the world, and he did just that when he came face-to-face with the former African champion under the UFC banner last year. Despite losing on the judges' scorecards, the Brazilian seemingly has 'The Last Stylebender's number, proving so with a huge TKO in the fifth round.
While discussing the monumental middleweight brawl, Chael Sonnen offered advice on how he believes Israel Adesanya should look at this matchup as he approaches the challenging task:
"I think that the number one thing that Izzy needs is he needs to burn his ships. We also need to make it clear to the fans and the fighters [that] we're not doing this [Adesanya vs. Pereira] again. I don't care if you guys have fought twice, I don't care what the score is, all the chips are in on this one. Whatever happens here, we'll all agree that this settles the dispute and we move on with life. We need that type of urgency by both athletes."
Pereira will be attempting to make his first defense of the middleweight throne after acquiring UFC gold for the first time back in November. Despite not being the champion for a long time, the South American is rumored to be eyeing a move up to light heavyweight in the near future.
UFC 287: When will Israel Adesanya collide with Alex Pereira?
UFC 287 is right around the corner and is a card filled with stars and potential future champions. The event will be headlined by the eagerly-awaited rematch between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
Set to go down at the Miami-Dade Arena in Florida, the clash of middleweight titans will be on display in the pay-per-view headliner on April 8.
Along with the blockbuster Adesanya vs. Pereira fight, the event will see Jorge Masvidal make his return to combat in a war with Gilbert Burns. Rob Font and Adrian Yanez will slug it out in a fight-of-the-year contender bout, while promising teenager Raul Rosas Jr. will also compete.
