Israel Adesanya despatched his congratulations to former rival Alex Pereira and commented on the extraordinary rivalry the 2 have shared through the years.
Adesanya and Pereira have fought twice in kickboxing, with “Poitan” profitable each fights. Within the UFC, Pereira and Adesanya squared off in 2022, with the Brazilian defeating Adesanya by TKO within the fifth spherical to win the UFC middleweight championship.
Nonetheless, “The Final Stylebender” did every part in his energy to make a comeback and wasted no time within the title rematch, defeating “Poitan” by KO in spherical 2 and regaining his misplaced glory.
After shedding the title, Pereira moved as much as gentle heavyweight, the place he’s the present and two-time champion. The 38-year-old now desires to step up and battle for a 3rd UFC belt.
In the meantime, Israel Adesanya misplaced the title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and didn’t seize the title in opposition to Drikas du Plessis at UFC 305 in 2024. In 2025, he misplaced by TKO in a non-title match in opposition to Nasruddin Imavov. The Nigerian-born Kiwi presently has no intention of reclaiming the belt and desires to battle freely and do “harmful issues”.
Israel Adesanya praises Alex Pereira
The meat between “The Final Stylebender” and Alex Pereira has been squashed, and so they have been even noticed hanging out collectively up to now. The 2 have additionally expressed curiosity in coaching collectively. In a current interview with Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA, Israel Adesanya mirrored on the aggressive rivalry he shared with Pereira, saying the previous stated:
“I hope he by no means loses. For me, it was at all times about me, not about him (Pereira). I knew I used to be technically the one one who harm this man over and over. Two-time gentle heavyweight champion I am so pleased with him now that he is again on the high. I hope he by no means loses. I hope he retires undefeated. It isn’t about anybody else, it is about me. MSG, individuals have been like, oh, he is by no means going to battle him once more, however they have been like, Dana, run that son of a bitch. ”
Take a look at Israel Adesanya’s feedback under.
