Alex Pereira claims Israel Adesanya wants ‘Easy fight’ rather than trilogy clash in UFC return later this year
Alex Pereira accused Israel Adesanya of targeting streaking contender Dricus Du Plessis to get an “easy fight.”
Alex Pereira is coming off his first loss inside the Octagon, surrendering the UFC middleweight championship to ‘The Last Stylebender’ at UFC 287, five months removed from his shocking fifth-round knockout against Adesanya at UFC 281 to capture the title. With Alex Pereira slated for a move to light heavyweight, Adesanya will look ahead to his next challenger. That will be determined at UFC 290 in July when former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker takes on rising contender Dricus Du Plessis in a middleweight title eliminator.
‘Stylebender’ has already taken aim at du Plessis after the South African standout called into question Adesanya’s African heritage. Openly hoping for ‘Stillknocks’ to pass his test against perennial contender Robert Whittaker, Adesanya is determined to teach du Plessis a lesson inside the Octagon. However, Alex Pereira believes Adesanya is simply targeting the easiest possible fight for himself.
“I think Whittaker will win this fight,” Pereira predicted in a recent video shared on his YouTube channel. “He is the big favorite he has already made several fights with great fighters and against Adesanya, he also made two great fights. But for Du Plessis, I wouldn’t say for sure but his chance is minimal against Whittaker. We saw the last fight of Du Plessis right? He is a guy who at the end of the first round was very tired so how a guy like that will fight five rounds against [Whittaker]- if he passes – it would be Adesanya. I think impossible.”
“Whittaker, he is different and has already proven this so I think there is a big difference,” he continued. “If Du Plessis wins. I think it will be a massacre. Adesanya knows this. He wants to make history. He wants to have an easy fight. For me, it’s Du Plessis, he is way easier than Whittaker. He wants to make history and collect wins and he knows it’s a good fight for him.
“Now Whittaker, he already knows it is difficult. In my opinion, both were hard fights even having that knockout in the first fight. In the second fight was a harder fight. I am sure that Whittaker will be better in a third fight, if not win. Of course, Adesanya is difficult, I think Adesanya is the favorite” (h/t MiddleEasy).
Alex Pereira Believes His UFC 281 Win Over Israel Adesanya Has Inspired Robert Whittaker
Alex Pereira suggested that his own win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 could have helped lay the blueprint for Robert Whittaker to score his own victory against the reigning middleweight king. Thus far, ‘The Reaper’ has fallen short on two separate occasions, but the Aussie has been chomping at the bit for a third crack at the New Zealander.
“But a third fight, I think Whittaker will be very dangerous even more knowing that Adesanya, he loses right – he is not an invincible guy, he loses – he already lost a few times, lost in kickboxing and I showed that in MMA – so for sure this will give Whittaker more confidence,” Pereira pointed out.
“I think he just has to do some adjustments,” he said of Whittaker. “Just has to do some things there details, some techniques, a good kick, defense, if he improves this I am sure he will give a lot of work for Adesanya and can be the next champion.”
Alex Pereira Wants a Third Fight with ‘Stylebender’ Inside the Octagon
Alex Pereira has recently called for a third fight with Adesanya inside the Octagon. After suffering a second-round knockout against ‘Stylebender’ last month, many assumed the door would be closed on their long-standing rivalry after all signs pointed toward ‘Poatan’ moving to 205. Alex Pereira revealed that a move to light heavyweight is still the focus, but he has every intention of completing his UFC trilogy with Adesanya. Whether or not Adesanya will accepts the challenge is a different story.
“I don’t know if Adesanya has this interest but if I want, the UFC wants [a trilogy fight], it’s already two points there so if the UFC gets there this year and says, you [Adesanya] are promoting a lot, speaking a lot, then we’ll have to fight. I don’t know if he will accept sincerely, I don’t know, I believe he won’t because soon after the fight you saw that he didn’t do any promotion to give me an immediate rematch.
“So the first opportunity that he had, he said no, forget Alex, he will have to do something for us to have a next fight, right? So I think he just wants to provoke me and is not promoting [a rematch]. I think he is doing it without intention right?, he is talking posting things every second right. As I said taking advantage of this moment of him, but I think if he would know that with all this he is facilitating us to have a third fight, I think he would not do all this and as I said right?,” Pereira explained.
“My focus now is the light heavyweight right. That is my intention,” he added.
