SUMMARY
- Alex Pereira is already looking forward to his next fight, a trilogy match against Israel Adesanya.
- Alex Pereira fought Jiri Prochazka for the vacant title at UFC 295.
Alex Pereira has enjoyed a rather fruitful 2023. Having lost the Middleweight title, he then went on to win the Light Heavyweight title. With that said, the Brazilian is already looking forward to his next fight, a trilogy match against Israel Adesanya.
Previously, Alex rematched Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. On the night, the Brazilian suffered a massive setback after getting knocked out by his bitter rival. As such, the loss prompted a move up to light heavyweight, where he took on Jan Blachowicz. After edging out a split decision against Blachowicz, Pereira then fought Jiri Prochazka for the vacant title at UFC 295.
Alex Pereira appears to be moving on after calling Israel Adesanya out for another fight 👀
📰 https://t.co/KZHGE1B91Y pic.twitter.com/cSLpDtqoNX
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 20, 2023
After besting the Czechian and claiming the title, Pereira once again called for his old foe. In a recent Q&A for Ares FC, Pereira said, “I called him ( Adesanya) out in the cage after the title win, and I wanted to give him the chance, and I saw he was not giving me any respect for this – he was laughing about it and making some jokes. So for me, it doesn’t matter anymore. I gave him the chance. If he comes up, nice; if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter”.
As Alex mentioned, Adesanya had laughed off the challenge. Not only that, the former middleweight champ went on to create a mock poster for an MMA trilogy for UFC 297. Although it seemed that the two were on good terms after their last encounter, it appears that there is still a score that needs to be settled.
Israel Adesanya is on a self-imposed break
For those unaware, Israel Adesanya has had somewhat of a topsy-turvy year. Initially, Izzy started off his year with the aforementioned win against Pereira at UFC 287. In a rematch of their UFC 281 encounter, Adesanya triumphed over his bitter rival and ‘settled the score’ as per his belief.
However, he would then go on to lose his reclaimed title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Naturally, the result was a shocking one to many, as Strickland, who was the #7-ranked contender, managed to dominate Izzy 4-1. Following the unanimous decision loss, it was clear that ‘The Last Stylebender‘ had some soul-searching to do.
As such, the 34-year-old revealed that he would be taking some much-needed time away from the sport. According to Izzy, he had been fighting through injuries and needed considerable time off to properly recover and rejuvenate himself. Although understandable, Adesanya’s actions since then have not matched his words. For the most part, the two-time Middleweight champ has remained active on social media.
As such, he also took a sly dig at Alex Pereira after being nominated for Fans Choice KO of the Year. However, fans quickly ganged up on Israel Adesanya for his comments. Having made fun of Pereira for his win in kickboxing, fans accused Adesanya of doing the same. With no update from his side, it will be interesting to see when Izzy will finally return.