The UFC is home to some of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Having so many great fighters means rivalries are not an uncommon occurrence, and they make for great entertainment and even better competition.
Though, It is rare that you come across a rivalry like the one between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. Honestly, to call this a rivalry is an understatement. These two world class fighters have faced each other multiple times over the last 8 years in 3 different cities across the world, 3 different fight promotions, and 2 different sports. And all three fights were all out wars. Three fights may not seem like a huge deal, until you understand the story behind it.
Both of these men started off in GLORY Kickboxing over in Asia, where they dominated their divisions, both reigning champions at one point. In their first two fights, Pereira won, once by decision and once by knockout. His win against Izzy by decision was very questionable however, many saying that the judges gave him the win by specific criteria. In the next bout though, he knocked Adesanya out, and that was the end of the feud.
Or so everybody thought.
Not long after, Israel made the transition into MMA, where he absolutely dominated, solidifying himself in the “GOAT” Conversation and holding the MiddleWeight belt for record time. Everything was looking great for Israel as there was nobody else who was really able to touch him in that division.
Until Alex Pereira entered the UFC Middleweight pool.
This is where the past was dug up and people were starting to question the future of the division. As Pereira moved up the ranks quickly, Adesanya started to prepare himself for a possible title defense against him. And in November 2022 Alex Pereira beat Israel Adesanya for the third time in their careers with a fifth-round knockout.
With Alex Pereira as the new UFC Middleweight champion, It was time for Israel to begin preparing for a rematch. A Good thing for Israel though, is that he didn’t see this as a bad thing, it was just something else for him to work towards. In an interview with sporting news leading up to the April bout, Pereira claims. “Fighting me this fast kind of showed me that maybe he just wanted to get it over with, wanted to get it done… Let me just fight this guy one more time and, whatever happens, at least I can live my life in peace.”
As their second bout inched closer, tensions rose and a lot was on the line. Finally, on April 8 both fighters stepped into the octagon for their long awaited rematch. In the second round of the fight, Israel Adesanya knocked out Alexander Pereira cold with a counter-hook and took back the belt and reclaimed his middle-weight championship title.
Even being a champion and on top of the world, Israel always stays rooted to his beginnings and grateful to his audience. In the post fight press conference following the bout, Adesanya preaches, “I wish everyone could reach this level of happiness that i feel right now once in their life, you’re never going to feel that if you don’t go through those trials and tribulations”.
It will be interesting to see what both of these guys’ next move is. Both have the potential to go on their best run yet in the sport and set precedents that other champions have achieved.