Fear isn't something you'd typically associate with Kiwi MMA phenom Israel Adesanya.
But "The Last Stylebender" admits there's one thing which truly terrifies him – the thought of being forced to return to the banality of nine-to-five office life.
Amid a heady rise through the UFC ranks which has seen him book a slot as the headline act at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in Las Vegas next weekend, the 28-year-old still uses the mundanity of those watercooler moments as a motivating factor.
In fact, he still remembers the precise date he gave it all up to chase what he deemed destiny.
"I quit my job Sept 4, 2013," Adesanya told Newshub.
"The building's knocked down now, but I was driving past it the other day and I could remember sitting there on level 10 at my smoko time, just looking out the window constantly and wondering.
"Every time I step in [to the Octagon] I feel like if I don’t win, I'll be back to that life. I know I won't, but I just like to think that so it drives me.
"I never want to be back there, because I felt trapped. I hate that feeling. I hate being controlled."
Adesanya has a lifetime of elite fighting experience under his belt, excelling as both a kickboxer and boxing before committing full-time to MMA. But his career with the UFC, combat sports' premier fighting promotion, is in its relative infancy.
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However it's only taken two fights for the UFC to determine that the unbeaten Nigerian-born Aucklander has that precious commodity of personality and show-stopping ability that so often translates to stardom.
It's what's seen him thrust into a main event clash with Hawaiian veteran Brad Tavares next Saturday (NZ time) in just his third bout, joining a short list of fighters which includes some of the sport's most famous figures, including Conor McGregor.
It's a rise the supremely confident Adesanya embraces wholeheartedly, in what is a refreshing break from the typical Kiwi tendency to evade expectation.
"There's this part of Kiwi culture where everyone's trying to shy away from the bright lights – where it's like 'I don't want to boast in case I fail, then I can just say I wasn’t even trying'.
"F**k that. Tell people what you want to do and if you fall on your face, cool, you get back up, dust yourself off and do it again. Climb to the next level and keep going.
"I don’t like to shy away from the spotlight because if you do, this is not the game for you. If you want to be a household name, if you want to be a millionaire…you have to get used to all this."
Predictably, Adesanya has no qualms about stepping into the bright lights of the Pearl Theater next weekend.
"At the end of the day it's me, another man and the ref in that cage," he says.
"Whether it’s the first fight of the night or the last fight of the night, it doesn’t matter…I'm going to work him. Same shit, different night".
Coached by NZ kickboxing legend Ray Sefo, Tavares (17-4) represents a significant step-up in competition for Adesanya.
What the Hawaiian lacks in flair he makes up for with his willingness to grind his way to wins, an ethos which has served him well as he rides a four-fight win streak into his date with the Kiwi, an opportunity of which he says Adesanya is "undeserving".
Speculation has also swirled this month regarding the health of Tavares, UFC President Dana White at one stage declaring the fight off due to injury. He's since strongly denied the allegations, not that Adesanya's taking much notice.
"It didn't faze or bother me… I just kept on doing me. I'm fighting at the end of the day. I've got my ticket booked. If he's not fighting we'll find someone else. It's my show.
"His camp said he's not injured but where there smoke, there's fire. Either way I'm still I'm coming for him. I'm coming for his head.
"I want to make sure I make a statement that night. He's just another guy in the way."
Adesanya will be joined by gymmate and fellow UFC fighter Dan Hooker when he makes his way to the "City of Sin" for the seventh edition of the organisation's annual International Fight Week.
"The Hangman" will square off with Gilbert Burns at UFC 226 on Sunday, the day after Adesanya's bout. He'll be a part of one of the promotion's most star-spangled cards of the year, headed by a "super fight" between Dan Cormier and Stipe Miocic.
The self-proclaimed "frienemies" spend their days sparring one another at City Kickboxing, a converted garage tucked away in the back streets of uptown Auckland which, led by head trainer Eugene Bareman, has evolved into a factory of elite combat sports talent.
"We level up every day. I'm always poking at him, he's poking at me. We push each other," says Adesanya.
Add UFC featherweight Shane Young to that trio and you have the spearhead of the next wave of world-renowned Kiwi fighters.
"All of us are constantly trying to level up," he notes.
"We've got this thing with the rising tide right now. When the tide rises, all the ships float."
But don’t call it a comeback. It's merely a renaissance of the days when the likes of Sefo and Mark Hunt lauded over K1 and Pride rings, Adesanya says.
"We were on top of the world at one stage during the K1 days, and I felt like that fell off.
"But now we're about to do it again. It's a little bit of a takeover, they just don't know it yet."
Newshub.
