Pereira Calls Out Longtime Rival Adesanya, Adesanya Reacts

In the aftermath of his win over Jiri Prochazka to become the UFC light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira called out Israel Adesanya for a trilogy. 

Pereira made history by becoming a two-weight world champion at UFC 295 with a dominant performance. The MMA fighter dropped his opponent in the second round with a left hook. As Prochazka went towards the floor, Pereira followed up with numerous elbows and punches as the referee stopped the fight. And following the win, Pereira called for a third fight with Izzy. 

“I’m not the type of guy to call people out but there’s a guy that back in the day [who] did some interviews and said I was a guy who was just going to stay in the bar. That motivated me. He rescued me from a bar to be here today. This guy said he just wants to come back and fight in 2027.

“I think he’s a very talented guy. It’s a waste of talent so I want to rescue him too, to come here and fight. I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me to and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight. I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy,” Pereira said

Their current record stands at 1-1 in the UFC, while Pereira has two wins over Izzy in kickboxing. Their last bout ended with Adesanya stopping Pereira in the second round to become the new UFC middleweight champion. Izzy, however, would lose the belt in his first defense against Sean Strickland at UFC 293. So, therefore, Adesanya may have to move up to light heavyweight to secure the fight, given Pereira’s belt. In response, Adesanya distanced himself from the fight following his recent admission that he would take some time off from the sport. 

“The fact that it sits with him. It hurts his spirit, I like it. But he did it. Same arena, getting that belt again, yeah. I think Jamahal Hill is probably next for him, but I know for a fact it hurts his spirit, which I like. What did he say? Come to daddy? Last time I checked, you were f***ing slept,” Adesanya

Reaction

There's no doubt it would be an epic trilogy!

— Tilly (@ToyTimeTilly) November 13, 2023

I don’t see it happening because Izzy is a middleweight. He weighed almost 5 pounds less than the limit for his fight against Jan when he moved up.

— Sunil (@rattletop) November 13, 2023

He would do it in a second if Izzy is down

— Brian on 𝕏 (@B12I4N0) November 13, 2023