Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva recently shared his thoughts on Israel Adesanya regaining the gold earlier this month.
UFC 287 saw ‘The Last Stylebender’ finally get some revenge against longtime nemesis ‘Poatan’. After dropping three fights to Pereira across kickboxing and MMA, Adesanya managed to outwit and out-strike the Brazilian late into the second round, securing a KO win in the process.
The victory makes Adesanya a two-time UFC Middleweight Champion, a division he’s dominated since joining the UFC back in 2018.
Anderson Silva Doesn’t Expect Another Adesanya/Pereira Match Any Time Soon
During a recent interaction with K.O. Artist Sports, ‘The Spider’ was asked for his thoughts on the UFC 287 main event. Silva was complementary of both men’s performances, noting Pereira was fighting well until he got surprised by Adesanya’s fatal punches late in round two.
Interestingly, ‘The Spider’ doesn’t see Pereira meeting ‘Izzy’ again in the Octagon due to his move to the light heavyweight division.
“I mean, my real opinion is Alex [was] doing a good job and Adesanya too, you know,” Anderson Silva said. “And I think that Alex don’t have the big opportunity to fight again with Adesanya very soon. Probably, I think [he’ll] go to the different weight, 205 and never come back to fight [Adesanya] again.”
Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya know each other very well, having clashed back at UFC 234. There, ‘The Last Stylebender’ picked up a unanimous decision victory over Silva, a man he’d idolized during his journey into professional MMA.
At this point, Anderson Silva is Adesanya’s main competition for the middleweight GOAT mantle in the UFC. ‘The Spider’ racked up an incredible 10 successful defenses of the UFC Middleweight Championship during his celebrated reign.
For now, Adesanya’s next steps as the 185lbs kingpin remain unclear, though rumors are currently circulating of a grudge match with outspoken South African contender Dricus du Plessis.