“I’m just going in there ready to dominate. I’m not thinking I don’t want another loss. That’s a weird way to frame it because I’m just thinking of what I don’t want. I’m in that frequency. “No, I have not been thinking that. I’m just going to go in there and do what I do, do my best. I know what I am when I’m at my best.” Adesanya can’t say he’s ever fought with the idea that he can’t afford to lose dancing around his head but he keenly remembers being in a must-win situation. That came back in 2023 when Adesanya faced longtime rival Alex Pereira in a rematch after he lost his middleweight title and fell to the Brazilian for a third time after two previous losses in kickboxing matches. “When I fought Alex in Miami I had that ‘I have to win’ [mindset],” Adesanya said. “I wasn’t saying I can’t lose. I was saying I have to win. “Again, it’s a flip because you’re tapping into that. ‘Oh I can’t lose, I can’t lose. Your brain just recognizes ‘lose, lose, lose.’ So when I fought Alex for the f*cking fourth time, I was just telling myself I have to win. I have to win. I was like win. Win. It’s just a different way of looking at things.”