Israel Adesanya admits he did ‘three macro shroom trips’ before beating Alex Pereira at UFC 287

Israel Adesanya waited a long time to beat Alex Pereira. As it turns out, his training camp for his long-awaited UFC win over the Brazilian included an interesting detail: psychedelic mushrooms.

Adesanya finally beat Pereira at UFC 287 in 2023. It was his fourth fight with the fearsome Brazilian, and he had lost each previous encounter. Their first two fights were contested under kickboxing rules, and their third was in the UFC. Pereira won the first by decision, and the second and third with brutal knockouts.

Adesanya discussed his long-awaited win over Pereira on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with his fellow former UFC champs Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. During the conversation, he admitted to using mushrooms before the fight.

“The Pereira fight in Miami, I did three macro ‘shroom trips in the shower, where I was able to just f**king hone in,” Adesanya said (via MMA Mania). “It’s different. I don’t go too deep. It’s more I can feel myself, I can feel myself deeper. I don’t know if it’s your ancestors or whatever, but I could feel myself on a level I’ve never felt before. Yeah, I do f**k with psychedelics.

“I like to alter the state of my being once in a while, just because I feel like I learn from different perspectives when you take the blinders off. So vulnerable.”

Joe Rogan discusses Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira’s rivalry

Following his knockout win over Pereira, Adesanya delivered an epic post-fight interview. Joe Rogan, who facilitated the interview, called it one of the best moments of his career with the UFC.

“This is my favorite moment of anybody after they won a fight,” the UFC commentator said on his podcast in February. “This was real, in the moment, [beating] a guy who’s the f***ing boogeyman, dude. Alex Pereira is the boogeyman. He’s the scariest mother****er in this sport. He knocked Izzy out twice. He left hook KO’d him in kickboxing, and then he beat him down in the UFC, and then Izzy finally knocked him out.

“That was a f***ing classic moment and then he grabs the microphone and gives one of the most inspirational speeches,” Rogan added. “When you hear [his post-fight speech], you’re like ‘wow. That’s what makes the whole career worth it.’”

See that interview here.

Israel Adesanya has not won since he defeated Alex Pereira. He most recently suffered a trio of losses to Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis, and Nassourdine Imavov.