Israel Adesanya was crowned the UFC's undisputed middleweight champion for the first time this afternoon in Melbourne but for him, the feeling was familiar.
After beating Robert Whittaker with a second round knockout to claim the thrown, Whittaker told reporters he had a feeling of "deja vu" when he was handed the belt after going through the moment multiple times in Marvel Stadium the day before.
"Yesterday, I came here with my crew and we rehearsed the entrance and I probably did it for or five times," Adesanya said.
"I did the whole walkout and I visualised everything and I stepped in the cage and claimed the space like, four or five times.
"And I also did the win, the victory, just visualising it and I imagined the whole place lit up with people and loud and cheering and booing.
"It just felt like, 'man, I just did this s*** yesterday."
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