Israel Adesanya does not let his rivalry with Alex Pereira cloud his judgment on what kind of fighter and person the UFC light heavyweight champion is.
“Stylebender” appeared on Demetrius Johnson’s Mighty Cast pod and shared his thoughts on “Poatan.”
“I like Alex (Pereira), it’s the Poatards, they’re f—–, you know. As usual, you know what they up. I respect him, and honestly, he’s a special fighter, a special human being, what’s he done in this game, in fighting and for his life as well. I’ll always respect him.
I’m grateful for those moments because, for me, it taught me a lot about myself and where I can go. Similar to the Kelvin Gastelum fight, it let me know, I can go more. Like, bro, let’s go. That one, I’m ready to die.
But this time, I swear to God I was ready to die. Fourth time’s the charm. Fourth time I got it done, so that when I knew, like, nah Israel, you can go levels. You can go more. So stay tuned.“
Israel Adesanya on Alex Pereira
Adesanya-Pereira is truly one of the greatest rivalries, not only in MMA but in modern combat sports. They first crossed paths in Glory of Heroes 1 followed by one more kickboxing fight under the promotion. Then, they fought two fights under the UFC banner. The Brazilian got the better of the Nigerian/New Zealander in the first three meetings, but Adesanya knocked Periera out cold at UFC 287.
As Adesanya noted, it remains to be seen whether a fifth fight between the rivals is in the offing. Pereira has since moved on to the 205-lb division and captured the belt in his second light heavyweight bout. In his first title defense, “Poatan” knocked out Jamahal Hill using his patented left hook in the first round.
