Kiwi mixed martial arts star Israel Adesanya is having no trouble finding confidence for his upcoming UFC 234 fight against Brazil's MMA legend Anderson Silva.
Silva, 43, is a former UFC middleweight champion who bodes a record of 34 wins in 42 fights will meet Adesanya in Melbourne next month.
The kiwi fighter also known as 'The Last Stylebender' admits as a kid he wanted to fight Silva but never thought he would get an opportunity.
"I thought he would be done by this point but he's still fighting," said Adesanya.
"Anderson's a troll and I'm a bigger troll, so I mean yeah petty. Yeah he's a troll, he knows when to turn things on and he knows how to intimidate guys.
"He can try but he can't intimidate me, like the whole Alex Pereira thing was like a little tryna see if I get shaken up, but I mean he [Pereira] can't save him [Silva], he can't fight for him."
Silva invited Brazilian Glory kickboxing middleweight champion Pereira to join his training camp in preparation for Adesanya.
Pereira defeated Adesanya twice in 2016 and 2017 in their kickboxing bouts.
Adesanya remains unbeaten so far in his UFC career, in his last bout he won via first-round knockout against US rival Dereck Brunson.
Meanwhile, his next opponent, Silva, comes back to fight for the first time after he failed a drug test in 2017 and was suspended for two years.
Silva has linked up with kickboxing middleweight champ Alex Pereira for his training camp.
Since his dramatic rise in success, Adesanya now has over 550,000 followers on social media, but says the limelight isn't getting to his head.
"I never bought followers, I never played these social media games I kind of did it my own way organically, to me you can kinda get caught up in that world, I have in the past, but I know it doesn't really mean much," Adesanya said.
"I see people look at me some type of way they want to realise he got five hundred thousand followers kind of changes their approach towards me and I'm kind of like, nothing's changed."
Adesanya's fight will feature as the co-main event at UFC 234 in Melbourne on February 10.
"My experience the last few years and last year alone I had to level up so much cause of everything that has been happening, so yeah I feel calm.
"Im feeling great relaxed, calm, cold. I am starting to detach from the regular routine and go into [a] fight type mode routine slowly. It's easy for me I've practised for all of this same s*** different night different day."
A win against Silva next month could lead to a title fight for Adesanya, against the winner of the main event at UFC 234.
Current middleweight champion and Kiwi born fighter Robert Whitaker will face US rival Kelvin Gastelum in the main event.
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