Israel Adesanya and Alex Periera are seemingly always going to be linked with one another. Even making his UFC debut, all Peirera heard was people asking him about Adesanya.
It's a natural topic considering Alex Pereira holds two wins over the current UFC middleweight champion with the last one coming by knockout. Israel Adesanya was watching his rival's debut on the prelims of UFC 268.
Israel Adesanya wasn't surprised to see Alex Pereira's opponent try to grapple him. He had the same experience against a big UFC contender.
“It’s pretty much like me and (Derek) Brunson – he’s trying to find a way (to grapple) because he’s scared of the striking,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel (transcription via MMAFighting). “Because you know he’s going to shoot, well-timed knee just straight up. Bang. There it is! I thought he was going to do it when he shot in, but I didn’t think he was going to fly at him.
“We talked about this like two days ago. We need something new. Especially after you lap the division again.”
Israel Adesanya was very complimentary of Alex Pereira after UFC 268. He even discussed their first fights back in kickboxing.
“Good job, Pereira. That was nice,” Adesanya said. “One thing I notice is everyone always holds on to that win he has over me like it’s the be all end all. I hope he does well. I hope he does well through the ranks. In the next four fights, I hope to see him. They’ll show you the knockout, but they won’t show you what happened before the fight. They won’t show you what happened before the finish. I hurt him, but I only throw these (raises fist) because I was infiltrated by other people’s thoughts. But that was when I was younger. Not anymore. It’s different now. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
The two are expected to rematch in the UFC at some point in the near future. Only time will tell if the matchup ever comes to fruition.
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