Israel Adesanya says he overcame more than just his greatest rival at UFC 287. Adesanya recently revealed that he suffered a Grade 1 MCL tear one week before knocking out Pereira to reclaim the UFC middleweight championship on April 8

Adesanya entered the Pereira rematch at a moral disadvantage. He lost to Pereira in all three of their prior encounters across mixed martial arts and kickboxing, twice by KO. Adesanya guided Pereira to the fenceline at UFC 287 and dropped him with counter punches in Round 2. In a new video, Adesanya explained that he fought Pereira with a torn MCL.

“I’ve been here before,” Adesanya said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “My UFC debut, three weeks out, I did my right ankle. I remember the next day, calling [a physiotherapist] and being like, ‘Yo, I need to see you tomorrow ASAP…’ He had to reinjure it or cause pain to it. I remember biting on a towel and sitting there in pain, screaming as he’s f—ing massaging my hurt ankle where it’s not supposed to be massaged.”

“So I was like, ‘This has happened. This is my perspective. This was meant to happen. I’ll overcome this.”

Adesanya is expected to fight the winner of a UFC 290 fight between Robert Whittaker and Dricus du Plessis. Pereira announced a planned move to light heavyweight in the aftermath of UFC 287.