Israel Adesanya defends 1-3 fight record against UFC rival Alex Pereira: ‘It’s quality over quantity here’

UFC middleweight kingpin, Israel Adesanya has defended his 1-3 losing record against former division champion, Alex Pereira – claiming “it’s quality over quantity” off the back of his skid-snapping victory at UFC 287 last month.

Chalking up his first professional victory across combat sports against Sao Paulo native, Pereira back in April in the main event of UFC 287, Adesanya landed a stunning second round knockout win over the Brazilian in the pair’s championship rematch.

First matching the Pereira during their respective tenures under the GLORY Kickboxing banner back in 2016, Adesanya suffered a debated and controversial decision loss, before dropping a thunderous KO defeat of his own in a rematch the following year.

Headlining UFC 281 back in November of last year at Madison Square Garden, Adesanya had racked up an impressive lead on all three judge’s scorecards before suffering a standing TKO loss to Pereira in the fifth and final round.

Snapping his streak of losses against the former two-weight kickboxing champion in Miami, Florida last month, Israel Adesanya rallied himself in the second round, sending Pereira to the canvas with a brutal KO loss.

Israel Adesanya makes his case for bragging rights against rival, Alex Pereira

Responding to claims that “numbers don’t lie” in the aftermath of their UFC 287 clash from Pereira, Adesanya claimed that the quality of his knockout victory surpasses the quantity of the Brazilian’s triumphs against him.

“It’s quality over quantity over here,” Israel Adesanya tweeted in response to Alex Pereira. “3-1, you can keep that. Whatever helps you SLEEP at night…” 

Expected to fight either former champion and past-foe, Robert Whittaker, or surging middleweight contender, Dricus du Plessis next, Adesanya has been earmarked to headline a Sydney, Australia return for the UFC later this year.

As for Pereira, the knockout kingpin is slated to make a light heavyweight move for his next Octagon outing – weighing up a series of fights against the likes of Magomed Ankalaev, former champion, Jan Blachowicz, as well as current undisputed gold holder, Jamahal Hill.