SUMMARY
- Israel Adesanya may not be a part of UFC 300, but his rivalry with Alex Pereira is a popular topic among fans.
- As Alex Pereira is set to fight at the mega event on Saturday, Stylebender shared that he has no interest in fighting him again.
Dana White and his entire team are set to organize arguably the biggest show in UFC history on Saturday in the form of UFC 300. Heading into the April 13 PPV, the bout between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill for the Light Heavyweight title is arguably the most hyped one, as it’s going to headline the mega event.
As Pereira is set to face a huge challenge at the show, fans wonder if his past rival Israel Adesanya is going to be his next opponent after UFC 300. But debunking all such speculations, the combat sports star did so during his recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. In his way of ending the possibility, Israel talked about the reason why he won’t fight Pereira ever again.
Israel Adesanya talks Alex Pereira.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/NX4ayfA3mB
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 12, 2024
The Last Stylebender said, “If I beat Alex next, knock him the f*ck out, what are they gonna say? ‘Okay now its 3-2’. You know why they’re asking for the fight? Because they need it… I don’t need it.” But amid his statement, fans feel that Stylebender is probably scared, and that’s why he has no interest in the fight.
Sharing how the UFC star is scared to even have a match with Alex, someone from the audience wrote, “Izzy is scared of Pereira and this proves it.” “In other words he’s scared and wants to get Disciplined by his father Strickland again,” a mixed martial arts fan commented while going even further in responding to the 6-foot-4’s statement. (Via: X)
All these fan reactions show that they aren’t too happy with the way Stylebender shared gis thoughts about a match with his arch-rival. With this, fans have been wondering if Alex is going to respond to the remarks or if he is going to keep his attention on his upcoming fight with Hill.
Israel Adesanya has already defeated Alex Pereira in dominant fashion
As Israel’s statement about a potential bout against Alex has come as a surprise to many, fans have been wondering what happened when they last fought. In this regard, it must be noted that Israel Adesanya has already defeated Alex Pereira in dominant fashion.
This happened at UFC 287 in 2023, as The Last Stylebender defeated Pereira via knockout on April 8, 2023, to become the new middleweight champion. But this isn’t the only match they had, as their rivalry has been going on for over seven years, as they first fought each other on April 2, 2016, in kickboxing, at Glory of Heroes 1 in Shenzhen, China, which was won by Alex via unanimous decision.
Following this bout, they again went against each other on March 4, 2017, at Glory of Heroes 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as ‘Poatan’ won the fight via a left hook knockout. After this, the arch-rivals fought for a professional MMA bout at UFC 281, in a UFC middleweight title match, as Israel Adesanya entered the bout as the title-holder participant.
This match was a spectacular one, as Alex Pereira dethroned Adesanya of the title in the fifth round via technical knockout during the November 12, 2022, event in New York. It was only after this huge loss that Israel Adesanya went on to defeat Alex in a dominant way at UFC 287 to become the new middleweight champion.
Alex Pereira could probably become a bigger star than Israel Adesanya
Even though Israel won the match in which the rivals fought against each other for the last time, it seems that Alex Pereira could probably become a bigger star than Israel Adesanya. The reason behind this is that after that loss, Pereira moved up a weight class, and amid his dominant performances, he is currently the new Light Heavyweight Champion.
On the other hand, The Last Stylebender lost his middleweight championship to Sean Strickland and then announced that he was taking a break from MMA until 2027. As the veteran isn’t going to be seen in the octagon anytime soon, it’s probably the best chance for Poatan to go ahead of his rival’s legacy and become a megastar.
As the 6-foot-4 UFC star has been winning continuously in his career as an MMA star, it seems like he is destined for a lot more glory in the industry. Moreover, it remains to be seen if he responds to the comments by Israel about a match with him. If he does, it’ll be interesting to see what happens after the mega event, as Israel Adesanya might be waiting for a response from his iconic arch-rival.