Adesanya tore MCL week before UFC 287 title win

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya suffered a Grade 1 MCL tear the week before his victory over Alex Pereira at UFC 287 earlier in April, he said Wednesday in a video on his YouTube channel.

The video includes a clip of Adesanya sustaining the injury in a sparring session. His knee appeared to buckle underneath him as a training partner dragged him to the ground.

"F--k, it was painful," Adesanya said.

"The Last Stylebender" knocked out Pereira in the second round to reclaim the 185-pound title. Adesanya had lost the belt to Pereira, his former kickboxing rival, last November via a stunning fifth-round TKO.

Adesanya said he made it to the bout because he had dealt with pre-fight injuries before. He added that he suffered an ankle injury three weeks before his UFC debut in February 2018 and then hurt his knee ahead of a bout with Derek Brunson later that year.

"If you can't change your circumstance, you change your perspective," Adesanya said. "So I was like, 'Right, this has happened.'"

He added: "The comeback of getting from (the injury) to the cage was already a big win for me. I was like, 'Yo, I beat that.' And (the injury) was really f-----g bad. After that, I was like, 'If I can get through that and to the cage, this fight, I can get through it.' ... It added to my confidence."