Israel Adesanya isn’t downplaying the stakes for his MMA rematch against Alex Pereira, because he knows it’s do-or-die at UFC 287.

Adesanya sits at 0-3 against Pereira in his career despite winning the majority of their UFC 281 battle, as well as two near-misses in kickboxing. In the last two of those fights, Adesanya suffered brutal knockout losses in the final round after being up on the scorecards, including the night this past November that cost him the UFC middleweight title.

With everything on the line Saturday night, Adesanya knows there’s no point in trying to pretend UFC 287 is just any other fight. He knows this might be his last opportunity to exorcise his demons against the only opponent to ever knock him out in his career.