UFC fans will have noticed that a fired-up Isreal Adesanya made a bold and unique choice regarding his outfit for the UFC 287 press conference.
The 33-year-old decided to wear a dog collar ahead of his headline fight against Alex Pereira in Miami this Sunday.
With Pereira beating Adesanya in their previous clash in November, the New Zealand-born fighter will be hoping to get the better of his opponent this time around. While explaining his reasoning for wearing a dog collar to the press conference, Adesanya sent a message to Pereira.
I’m a dog. It’s a dog collar and I’m about to be unleashed,’ he said, before fans barked back in support.
Adesanya has since confirmed that his outfit choice is also in reference to the 2005 film ‘Unleashed’, where a loan shark from Glasgow uses his bodyguard to attack customers.
Being trained as an ‘attack dog’, the bodyguard wears a dog collar and once the collar is taken off, he becomes a skilled fighter who relentlessly attacks his target – much like Adesanya will in his upcoming fight.
For the UFC star, the collar comes off on Sunday as the pair taking to the ring to settle their differences with Adesanya ready to be unleashed on Periera.
After beating Adesanya in round five back in November, Pereira took his belt but the 33-year-old insisted that he is not concerned with winning it back on Sunday, but is just looking forward to being ‘let loose’ on Pereira.
He continued: ‘F*** 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.’