Michael Bisping explains why Israel Adesanya wants to "have fun" against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

Ahead of Israel Adesanya's highly anticipated clash against his nemesis Alex Pereira at UFC 281, Michael Bisping has emerged to support the champ. 'The Last Stylebender' will make his sixth middleweight championship defense against the Brazilian 'Poatan'.

'Poatan' is arguably the scariest striker in the UFC right now. He has proven throughout his time in the sport that he can end fights in the blink of an eye. His devastating power from his kickboxing days has translated incredibly well into MMA. He is currently just one win away from UFC gold.

While discussing the middleweight clash on his Believe You Me podcast, Michael Bisping supported Israel Adesanya's outlook on the fight. He insisted it's important to have fun inside the octagon:

"What Izzy said there, 'Trying to have fun,' is important. Because when you have fun- obviously, it's not a fun environment, you're fighting in the octagon and there's massive consequences. If you can separate yourself from the seriousness of the situation and you can allow yourself to be having fun, you perform so much better... You let go of that tension and you don't mindfu** yourself because it's so important to you."

Michael Bisping mentioned that his famous title bout against Luke Rockhold and his visit to China to face Cung Le were fights in which he decided to let loose. Interestingly, Bisping knocked out his opponents in both of those fights.

Check out what Michael Bisping had to say about Adesanya ahead of his title defense in the video below:

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What does a win over Alex Pereira mean for Israel Adesanya?

Israel Adesanya is a force to be reckoned with at middleweight. However, tongues would never stop wagging if he doesn't convincingly defeat Pereira.

Having beaten Anderson Silva— albeit much past his prime— the Nigerian-New Zealander has had an incredible resume since joining the UFC.

The major reason why the UFC 281 headliner is gaining massive traction is that Alex Pereira has two kickboxing wins over Adesanya. If Adesanya overcomes the Brazilian, he'll hold wins over everyone in the current top six middleweights.