A crushing loss to Israel Adesanya over Alex Pereira occurred just three weeks ago. Pereira, who has been at odds with The Last Stylebender for a while, still believes he is the better fighter among two of them.
The main contest of UFC 287 featured a rematch between the two longtime rivals on April 8 at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida. Israel Adesanya delivered a lethal punch to Alex Pereira’s left side of the face in the fourth minute of the second round, defeating Pereira.
What did Alex Pereira recently say about Israel Adesanya?
In just five months, Poatan faced The Last Stylebender again to defend his title. The Brazilian fighter had other intentions after defeating Adesanya and winning the middleweight championship, but the Kiwi MMA fighter wanted to fight him immediately, and it went down just how Adesanya had hoped.
Alex, though, had previously defeated Adesanya, so his expectation was only to win again. The top-ranked middleweight fighter previously defeated Izzy thrice. In addition to their first MMA encounter at UFC 281, Poatan had two kickboxing victories over Izzy.
The Brazilian fighter and Adesanya first met in a kickboxing match in 2016, marking the beginning of their rivalry in combat sports. The two competitors engaged in a rematch a year later, but the outcome remained the same: Poatan defeated Izzy.
Even when they first met in the UFC in November of last year, Adesanya’s luck remained poor. But Izzy’s fourth attempt in Miami-Dade Arena was successful. The Brazilian fighter still views his kickboxing triumphs as evidence of his superiority against Izzy. Pereira recently asserted in a tweet that he is better Adesanya as statistically he’s having a lead of 3-1.
We are the best. But I’m still better. Numbers don’t lie. 3:1. pic.twitter.com/Y8hxlyAwyZ
— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) April 29, 2023
A trilogy fight between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya is unlikely to happen anytime soon given that Pereira is moving up to the light heavyweight class. Do you believe Pereira has a point when he calls himself the best? Let us know what you think in the comment area.
