Israel Adesanya wants to make sure there’s no funny business going on after Friday morning’s UFC 287 weigh-ins.
On Saturday night, ‘The Last Stylebender’ will attempt to do something he has never done before; beat Alex Pereira. Sitting at 0-3 against the towering Brazilian striker, Adesanya will have one last chance to settle the score, but before they step inside the Octagon, Adesanya wants to make sure his opponent’s post-weigh-in rehydration is on the up-and-up.
“USADA, monitor us from the moment we get off the scale till we hit the arena on Saturday,” Adesanya wrote on Twitter. “Have people take shifts if they have to … no loopholes to jump here.”
Adesanya’s comment is most certainly a reference to Islam Makhachev’s alleged IV use after weighing in for his UFC 284 showdown with Alexander Volkanovski. Adesanya’s City Kickboxing teammate Dan Hooker called out the reigning lightweight champion shortly after retaining his title against Volkanovski, accusing the Dagestani standout of hiring a nurse to administer an IV to aid in rehydration.
Israel Adesanya Says If You Can’t Beat ’em, Join ’em
Dan Hooker responded to Israel Adesanya’s USADA monitoring request, telling the former titleholder, ‘Happy gambling.’ In response, ‘Stylebender’ suggested that if he couldn’t stop the rule breakers, he might as well join them.
“Fine then, I’ll just use an IV to rehydrate,” Adesanya added. “What’s the “legal loophole limit” again?”
No evidence has emerged confirming the claim levied against Makhachev is true, but notable MMA agent Ali Abdelaziz seemingly defended the IV usage in a social media response that was quickly deleted. The UFC also issued a statement regarding IV usage shortly after, revealing that it was not an entirely prohibited practice as most fans and fighters had assumed.
“All IV infusions and/or injections of more than 100 mL (~6.8 tablespoons) per 12-hour period are prohibited at all times, both in and out-of-competition, except for those legitimately received in our out-of-competition in the course of hospital treatments, surgical procedures, clinical diagnostic investigations, and/or those received that are determined to be medically-justified and within the standard of care by a licensed physician and administered by a licensed medical professional, without an approved Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE)” reads the USADA website.
Both Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira successfully made weight for their middleweight title rematch at UFC 287.
