Israel Adesanya turns down trilogy fight idea with Alex Pereira following UFC 287 win: ‘Now it’s settled’
Newly minted undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has shut down the idea of sharing the Octagon with arch-rival, Alex Pereira for a third straight time following last night’s devastating knockout win at UFC 287, claiming their spat is now “settled”.
Avening a November knockout loss to Sao Paulo striker, Pereira last night in the curtain closer of UFC 287, City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya managed to fight off second round adversity against the Brazilian – cannoning back with a huge counter knockout win at the Octagon fence.
Israel Adesanya claims his rivalry with Alex Pereira is now “settled”
Reclaiming the undisputed middleweight title, Adesanya, who managed to turn the tide and secure his first triumph over Pereira over their four fight series across professional combat sports, claimed his rivalry was “settled” with the latter.
“I don’t keep score, I settle it, and now it’s settled,” Israel Adesanya said of his rivalry with Alex Pereira during his post-fight press conference at UFC 287. “I gave him [Alex Pereira] a fast track to the belt. I could’ve said, ‘Naw, who’s he fought?’ He only fought one top five [contender].’ But no. He did well. He fought some top guys. He beat (Sean) Strickland, and I was like, ‘Well, fine. There’s no one else.’”
As for an immediate trilogy bout under the UFC banner, Adesanya scoffed at the idea – urging Pereira to make a pursuit a division higher at 205lbs.
“I was looking for that challenge,” Israel Adesanya explained. “He beat me in kickboxing and I got the immediate rematch because of what I’ve done in the game. … I did the hard years and I earned my f*cking rematch. Now he has to do the hard yards and earn it, but i don’t think he’s going to. Go cause problems at 205 [pounds] – he’s a motherf*cker to deal with, I’ll tell you that.”
Receiving a slew of callouts following his triumphant title return, Adesanya was subject to open challenges from former champions, Jan Blachowicz, and Robert Whittaker – while undefeated welterweight berserker, Khamzat Chimaev appears confident he fights the Nigerian-Kiwi next.
As for Pereira, the now-former undisputed middleweight champion has been tipped to potentially make a move to the light heavyweight division following his stunning second round KO defeat by UFC president, Dana White.
