Alex Pereira has given his take on Israel Adesanya’s widely debated celebration after UFC 287.
Alex Pereira’s reign on the middleweight throne came to an emphatic and brutal end this past weekend in Miami.
Five months after he unseated Israel Adesanya in shocking fashion at UFC 281, “Poatan” put the gold on the line for the first time in a rematch with “The Last Stylebender.”
While Pereira had gotten the better of Adesanya in two kickboxing contests and one MMA bout, four was to be the magic number for the Nigerian-New Zealander, who viciously knocked out his rival in the second round of the UFC 287 main event.
In the aftermath of the KO, the two-time champ was widely praised for his post-fight interview, but there was one moment of controversy. Immediately after the fight-ending sequence, Adesanya mocked one of Pereira’s sons by imitating the actions he demonstrated in the ring following his 2017 defeat to the Brazilian.
Although some have taken issue with the move, branding it distasteful and unwarranted, Pereira doesn’t seem to have an issue with it. During a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, “Poatan” essentially noted that turnabout is fair play.
“I don’t know I wouldn’t do the same,” Pereira said. “I can play with him. I’ve always played with him. I teased him. It was something that happened, but he — I don’t know… I don’t know what his feeling was. I don’t know. It was seven years ago. He was (enjoying) it and I saw his joy that he had after the knockout, you know? Because that was his dream. That was his dream and he made it. But we’re comparing him with a child who was five years old at the time, right? I don’t have that mind.”
Alex Pereira went on to reveal that his son had actually planned on recreating the KO mimic last November at Madison Square Garden following his father’s fifth-round stoppage win over Adesanya. The former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion noted his decision to prevent his son from doing so.
“Today he is 12 years old and before the fight, I saw that he was being influenced by other people, right? (He even) participated in some interviews and some reporters said, ‘You going to do this (again)?’ (He said), ‘I’m going to do it again,’ and so on,” Pereira noted. “Because he’s a kid. I think it’s funny. I knocked him out the night I won the belt and my kid was wanting to do the same thing. I said to him, ‘No, stop… Don’t do anything.’
“I wouldn’t do it. If he did it, if he felt better that way, okay, it’s a relief. It’s a relief he had and if he thinks it’s better for him, okay,” Pereira continued. “That won’t change anything for me.”
With that in mind, it appears there’s no bad blood between the two longtime rivals, who engaged in cordial discussion backstage following the UFC 287 headliner.
But that seemingly doesn’t mean that another meeting inside the cage is out of the question…
Alex Pereira Vows To “Never Quit”
With the pair’s head-to-head series standing at one win apiece in mixed martial arts, a trilogy fight would appear to be a possibility.
However, both UFC President Dana White and Adesanya somewhat poured cold water on that fire soon after Saturday’s event, with both predicting a light heavyweight move for the naturally large “Poatan.”
But during his recent reaction video, Alex Pereira insisted that he will “never quit,” perhaps implying that he’s looking to regain the middleweight crown down the line.
“All the people who are following me since kickboxing, they know I am a hard worker and dedicated. I never quit,” Pereira said. “And the people who arrived now, it’s a new phase; MMA, UFC. You can think like, ‘How will this guy come back?’ Guys, I promise you, I’m going to come firm and strong. I’m going to come stronger than ever. You can write this down.”
Alex Pereira shared a similarly motivated message on social media following his devastating KO loss, noting that he’ll simply ‘continue with the plans that are already in motion’. The weight at which those plans will be completed remains to be seen.