Alex Pereira Says Israel Adesanya ‘Should Be Worried’ Ahead Of His UFC Debut
Alex Pereira enters the Octagon for the first time this Saturday at UFC 268 against Andreas Michailidis in New York.
With Pereira holding two wins over the middleweight champion most of the pre-fight coverage will focus on Israel Adesanya.
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Pereira claimed that he’s “not worried” about Adesanya but says the middleweight champion should be.
“I’m not worried, man. He’s the one that should be worried, right?” Pereira said. “He knows about my potential and knows I’ll get [to the top]. When I go somewhere, I do it to become the best, just like it was in kickboxing. I’ll do everything I can to get there, and maybe he won’t even be there when I do — [if that’s the case] what do I want with Adesanya? Nothing. Is he the champion? Cool, he’s the one I want. He’s no longer the champion? I want the one that is.”
Alex Pereira Is A Highly Decorated Kickboxer
Pereira holds a combined 24 knockouts in both sports with a 3-1 record in MMA and 33-7 in kickboxing. With no clear challengers for Adesanya he believes that Stylerbender will continue to dominate the middleweight division and he will be rushed to a title shot. With two wins over the champion the first being a decision and the second being a stunning knockout, Pereira doesn’t believe that Adesanya has gotten better since joining the UFC it’s only the opponent’s behavior that has changed.
Pereira isn’t surprised that Stylebender hasn’t spoken about him joining the UFC even though he is usually so active on social media.
“He won’t talk, right? He knows my potential,” Pereira said. “He always [post videos] with his picks and stuff like that but will he talk about me? No way, he won’t. I could be wrong, but he won’t talk because he knows my potential. If he’s going to talk about me, he must say something positive because I beat the guy twice, so how is he going to talk crap about me? And if I go out Saturday and show something else, how does that make him look? It’s a bit confusing for him.”
Following his teammate Glover Teixeira‘s success at UFC 267 winning the light-heavyweight belt at the age of 42. Pereira believes he still has plenty of time to learn with him only being 34.
“Look at Glover,” Pereira said, pointing to his teammate Glover Teixeira who just won the UFC light heavyweight title at age 42. “He has way more experience and is well-rounded and I still have much to learn, of course, but he’s champion at 42 and is beating up young guys. I’m 34, but I’ve still got plenty of wood to burn.”
