In another video posted on his YouTube channel, the Nigerian showed how he suffered a first-degree rupture of the collateral ligament of the knee during one of the training sessions at the last stage of preparation.
“If you can’t change the circumstances, you change how you feel about them,” explained the UFC middleweight champion. “So I said to myself, ‘It’s good that this happened. It had to happen and I will get over it.’ Getting back in the cage was already a big win for me because it was really, really bad. I thought, ‘If I can get through this and get into the cage, I can do anything.’ It gave me confidence, added strength of mind. I said to myself, ‘This can’t bring you down'”
The middleweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya, who headlined the UFC 287 tournament in Miami on April 8, ended in the second round with a knockout defeat for the Brazilian. Last November, Pereira took away the championship belt from Adesanya, finishing the Nigerian by technical knockout in the fifth round.