Israel Adesanya puts the Alex Pereira saga behind him, closing the chapter on their heated rivalry with confidence!
Back in their kickboxing days, Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira first crossed paths, with Pereira getting the better of Adesanya twice. Their story then carried over to the UFC, where they traded wins in spectacular fashion.
The final fight came when Israel Adesanya finally managed to win the battle over the towering middleweight at the time. This loss forced Pereira to move up to light heavyweight, where he still rules.
Now, in 2025, Adesanya has come to terms with the scoreline being 3-1 in Pereira’s favor.
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‘The Last Stylebender’ recently showed a softer, more vulnerable side of him. He spoke about his thoughts on having a 5th fight with Alex Pereira on his YouTube channel, and now, he sees things for what they really are.
“My story with him [Alex Pereira] is over. Still 3-1 damn it… I think Poatan is on a tear right now. He’s just too good. I hope he retires undefeated like the rest of his career. It’ll just be like, ‘I beat that n****r one time.’”
Adesanya admitted recently, showing a side of himself that fans rarely get to see. He even cracked a joke about it, saying he’ll just have to be content with beating Pereira that one time. It’s refreshing to see this kind of honesty from a fighter who’s usually known for his confident, sometimes a cocky persona.
While Pereira has moved up to light heavyweight and is crushing it with three title defenses, Adesanya has had a rough patch. He lost his middleweight belt to Sean Strickland and couldn’t get it back from Dricus Du Plessis, despite making tall claims to show DDP his place if they fought.
Poatan seems ready to bury the hatchet, too. He was even open to training with Israel Adesanya, which would have seemed crazy a few months back. Fight fans are drooling at the prospect of these two striking wizards sharing techniques instead of trying to knock each other out!
While this lasted, this rivalry has given fans something better than just fights. It has shown fans how fighters can grow, not just as athletes but as people. And maybe someday, fans will see these two sharing war stories and laughing about their battles (like Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva) over a cup of coffee!
(Image Credits: Imagn Images)
