It took a while for Israel Adesanya to defeat Alex Pereira. It turns out that hallucinogenic mushrooms were a fascinating addition to his preparation camp for his eagerly anticipated UFC victory over the Brazilian.
In 2023, Adesanya defeated Pereira at UFC 287. He had already lost all four of his fights with the intimidating Brazilian. Kickboxing rules were used for their first two bouts, and the UFC was used for their third. Pereira used vicious knockouts to win the second and third, and won the first by decision.
Adesanya spoke with other former UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo on the Pound 4 Pound podcast about his eagerly anticipated victory over Pereira. He acknowledged consuming mushrooms before to the fight during the discussion.
“The Pereira fight in Miami, I did three macro ‘shroom trips in the shower, where I was able to just f**king hone in,” Adesanya said (via MMA Mania). “It’s different. I don’t go too deep. It’s more I can feel myself, I can feel myself deeper. I don’t know if it’s your ancestors or whatever, but I could feel myself on a level I’ve never felt before. Yeah, I do f**k with psychedelics.
“I like to alter the state of my being once in a while, just because I feel like I learn from different perspectives when you take the blinders off. So vulnerable.”
Joe Rogan talks about the rivalry between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya
After defeating Pereira via knockout, Adesanya gave a fantastic post-fight interview. The interview’s facilitator, Joe Rogan, referred to it as one of the highlights of his UFC career.
“This is my favorite moment of anybody after they won a fight,” the UFC commentator said on his podcast in February. “This was real, in the moment, [beating] a guy who’s the f***ing boogeyman, dude. Alex Pereira is the boogeyman. He’s the scariest mother****er in this sport. He knocked Izzy out twice. He left hook KO’d him in kickboxing, and then he beat him down in the UFC, and then Izzy finally knocked him out.
“That was a f***ing classic moment and then he grabs the microphone and gives one of the most inspirational speeches,” Rogan added. “When you hear [his post-fight speech], you’re like ‘wow. That’s what makes the whole career worth it.’”
Israel Adesanya has not won since he defeated Alex Pereira. He most recently suffered a trio of losses to Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis, and Nassourdine Imavov.
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