Israel Adesanya Hopes Alex Pereira ‘Does Well’ In UFC, Hopes To Face Him In Octagon Soon

Israel Adesanya commended the man who served him his sole knockout loss.

Alex Pereira (4-1) is known as that man, and he did it again at UFC 268 against Andreas Michailidis (13-5) 18 seconds into the second round. The 34-year-old Brazilian won his UFC debut with a flying knee.

“Good job Pereira, that was nice,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “One thing I notice is everyone always holds on to that win he has over me like it’s the be all end all. I hope he does well. I hope he does well through the ranks.”

Adesanya, the current middleweight king, noted that Pereira was trying to find a way to take his opponent down, but he’s scared of striking. So, he went for a flying knee instead and Adesanya said he didn’t expect that.

“Cause you know he’s going to shoot, well-timed knee just straight up. Bang. There it is. I thought he was going to do it when he shot in, but I didn’t think he was going to fly at him,” he added.

Pereira and Adesanya fought twice under kickboxing rules, and in both bouts, Pereira earned victories.

In the first, he served brutal KO victory with a left hook, but the second bout was via decision. But MMA is a different kind of sport.

“In the next four fights, I hope to see him…,” Adesanya said. “It’s different now. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”