Alex Pereira says he is willing to fight Israel Adesanya a fourth time if needed: “I’m well prepared.”
‘Poatan’ Alex Pereira spoke with TMZ ahead of his UFC 281 main event fight against Israel Adesanya. ‘The Last Stylebender’ and Pereira have met twice before while they were competing in kickboxing. ‘Poatan’ took victory twice against the Nigerian-Kiwi fighter.
Years later, the two are meeting with the UFC middleweight championship on the line.
Alex Pereira discusses Israel Adesanya
Brazil’s Alex Pereira was asked questions by TMZ regarding the fight and his career in the UFC. Some people, including Adesanya’s coach, have criticized the UFC for putting Pereira in a title shot after just three wins. He answered:
“It’s no surprise. I expected that because of the success I had in those three fights.”
Adesanya and ‘Poatan‘ are both kickboxing-based fighters, but now they are meeting in MMA. For a prediction of how the fight goes, Pereira is ready for anything, even including a fourth fight. The Brazilian athlete explained:
“It’s MMA, a lot more possibilities. But I’ve been training every day. So I’m very excited for this fight … I’m ready for five rounds. Wherever the fight goes, it’s hard to predict. But I’m ready for everything … If it comes down to a fourth fight, I’m well prepared.”
Pereira was asked about bad blood between the two fighters. ‘Poatan’ said there is no animosity on his side, the only issues are with Adesanya. He explained:
“On my end, no problem but I don’t think on his side everything that happened it’s possible.”
Pereira was able to get a title shot in the UFC after wins over Sean Strickland, Bruno Silva, and Andreas Michailidis. Before his UFC success, Alex Pereira was a top pound-for-pound ranked kickboxer who held two world titles in GLORY kickboxing.
