Eugene Bareman asked Israel Adesanya ‘to take the shackles off himself mentally’ ahead of UFC 287
Eugene Bareman advises Israel Adesanya to find himself by digging into his past fights.
While Bareman didn’t reveal which fights he was referencing, the City Kickboxing coach wants Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) to regain his flow state as he heads into Saturday’s UFC 287 title-fight main event rematch with Alex Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in Miami.
“I’ve asked Israel to look back to his past a little bit and kind of take the shackles off himself mentally and find some of the things he had in the past,” Bareman told ESPN. “I’m talking about his decision making, the decision making ability, the ability to flow in a fight, things he used to have when he was younger, and things used to come a little bit more freely. I’ve asked him to find that.
“I’ve asked him to look at particular fights in his past – I’m not going to say which ones, obviously. But I’ve asked him to reach back there and find that fighter again, and amalgamate that with all the new skills that he’s had. If we can find that balance, we’ve got a pretty good Israel going into Saturday night.”
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Despite being down 3-0 against Pereira, including two kickboxing losses, Adesanya was en route to a win over Pereira at UFC 281 before he was dethroned in a fifth-round TKO loss.
UFC 287 takes place Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
