UFC fighter Israel Adesanya believes his rivalry with Alex Pereira is the most interesting story ever heard in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). This 36-year-old Brazilian has bested Adesanya two times in kickboxing and once in MMA, taking the UFC middleweight title back in November. By doing so, he put a stop to Adesanya’s three year long reign as the champion of this division. Adesanya said that this feud between him and Pereira is probably one of the greatest plots that ever happened in MMA history.
Not many people are lucky enough to get the chance to show how good they really are, even when there’s a lot of opposition. I feel just like one of those underdogs.
I think that some people have short memories, and they’ve forgotten what I’ve done in this game – so it’s time to remind everyone how great I am!
Adesanya, who is 33 years old and originally from Nigeria but living in New Zealand, won all the middleweight division fights in 2019 and defended it five times before he was challenged by his long-time opponent Pereira.
Adesanya and Pereira fought each other in kickboxing matches in 2016 and 2017. After his last defeat, Pereira switched to MMA.
In 2021, he joined the UFC and won his first three fights quickly which led him to a title fight with Adesanya.
Although they thought Adesanya would easily win because he had more octagon experience, Pereira was able to beat him in the fifth round of their match, surprising everyone.
Adesanya is looking to Eminem for inspiration so that he can win back the middleweight title. Adesanya said, “I only have one chance, like Eminem’s ‘one shot’ lyric, to make this happen. This opportunity won’t come again and I have to take it. What if I do better than him? I don’t keep score but I will show everyone who has the last laugh.”
Pereira has an ancestor who is from the Indigenous tribe in Brazil and he paints his face to show that he honors his tribal background.
Adesanya and Pereira
Adesanya’s brilliant striking ability, his cunningness inside the ring, and how skillfully he manages the distance between him and his opponents allowed him to beat people like Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. It was also assumed by many that Adesanya was winning his fight against Pereira in New York until the fifth round.
However, this ended up being Adesanya’s first losing match out of a total of 13 fights he had at the UFC middleweight division.
Adesanya said confidently, “I have a plan to beat this opponent. I always get the upper hand in fights against him, but somehow he can find a way to get back up and fight again. My goal is to keep him from doing that”.
He continued on saying, “Usually, I’m already looking ahead at the next challenge while still facing my current one. But this time my full attention has been put on this guy in front of me”.
I’m really excited, like a dog wanting to go to the park. I’m trying to stay calm, but it won’t be long before I let loose!
Pereira said that some people think he was getting beaten up in the last fight with Israel, but he doesn’t agree. He thinks he won the first round before everything got chaotic. And in the second and third rounds too, he felt comfortable enough not to give up.
Pereira said he could beat Adesanya in a fight, but Adesanya thinks the same. At the press conference, Pereira was wearing a jacket with Pikachu on it. That might not have been to make fun of Adesanya though – because Pikachu is a character from an anime show called Pokemon. Also, Adesanya’s nickname ‘Last Stylebender’ comes from Japanese cartoons.
“Someone just gave me this thing 10 minutes ago and I think it looks cool and matches what I’m wearing,” said Pereira. “There’s a way for me to mess with his head because he likes Pikachu, even though I don’t really care about it.”
