Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira will be remembered as one of the greatest rivalries in combat sports. The most recent chapter in their multi-sport rivalry took shape at UFC 287 when Adesanya knocked out Pereira in the second round with a vicious combination while against the octagon.
Pereira holds three victories over Adesanya, which includes two finishes. However, Israel Adesanya has spread the narrative that his UFC 287 victory was decisive enough to be called the final installment of their long-running rivalry. Meanwhile, ‘The Last Stylebender’ hasn’t missed a single opportunity to revel in his UFC 287 triumph, mocking Pereira multiple times since the victory.
Most recently, he posted a photoshopped image of Alex Pereira depicting the Brazilian as a victim in a crime scene.
Needless to say, the ‘dead body joke’ did not go down well with Pereira, who presented the case for a third fight in MMA. Pereira wrote under the Twitter post:
“In kick-boxing it’s impossible now to be better than me. In MMA it’s 1:1. Be real with your fans and let’s show the world who is better in MMA.”
Despite his victory, Israel Adesanya has faced backlash from fans, particularly for his post-fight antics in which he taunted Pereira’s son. Alessandro Pereira, Pereira’s son, had previously taunted the Nigerian-born Kiwi when he was five, imitating his kickboxing KO in the ring when ‘Poatan’ won their 2017 bout decisively.
Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira: ‘Poatan’ fires fresh shots at Adesanya in an attempt to re-ignite their rivalry
According to Israel Adesanya, UFC 287 marked the end of the long-running rivalry between him and Alex Pereira. Adesanya had the final laugh, scoring an emphatic knockout victory and avenging the three losses to ‘Poatan’.
Most recently, Adesanya hailed himself and Pereira as the two best middleweight contenders, even thanking the Brazilian for bringing out the best in him. Despite that, ‘Poatan’ believes that he’s still a better fighter considering that he has defeated Adesanya thrice (twice in kickboxing and once in MMA at UFC 281).
He took to Twitter to remind Israel Adesanya of the losses, writing:
“KO’d in Kick Boxing then helped into stretcher. Defeated in a decision. TKO’d in UFC. That’s more of a quality than 1 KO in UFC.”
Check out Alex Pereira’s tweet below: