This past weekend saw the second instalment of Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira in the UFC, coming five months after their first battle.
The Brazilian star handed Izzy his second UFC loss last November, claiming middleweight gold and ending The Last Stylebender’s 1,134-day reign in the process.
The Nigerian made five successful defences while he had the title and Pereira’s TKO win took many by surprise, so, the fight just a few days ago was an opportunity to get revenge for Adesanya.
As it happened, he was able to get the win and reclaim his title in the second round, earning his first career win over his foe.
The rivalry between Adesanya and Pereira
Let’s not forget, this is a rivalry that has been raging on for quite some time.
It all began with a kickboxing affair back in April of 2016. This was a bout that Pereira took via unanimous decision. He also ended up on the winning end of their second kickboxing fight, this time with a left hook in the third round.
It was here, however, that Pereira’s son would do something that the current UFC middleweight champion would not soon forget.
Adesanya’s long beef with Pereira’s son
Following Israel’s loss, he was laid on the canvas where he would be joined by his opponent’s child, who would get down on the canvas to mock the fallen Adesanya.
So, after April 8th’s title win, the now two-time champion was seen pointing to the crowd before playing dead, in a move later discovered to be a way of mocking what Pereira’s son did to him years earlier.
Many were rightly interested in how Alex would respond to his son being the subject of a taunt from Israel. However, surprisingly, he was rather calm about the incident.
He even claimed that he might have acted in a similar way if the roles had been reversed.
What has Alex Pereira said about Israel Adesanya mocking his son?
“I don’t know if I wouldn’t do the same.
“I can play with him, I’ve always played with him and teased him. It was something that happened. But I don’t know, it’s another child because I don’t know what his feeling was.
“I don’t know, it is seven years ago, he was enduring it and I saw his joy that he had after the knockout because this was his dream. That was his dream and he made it, but we’re comparing him [his son] with a child who was five-years-old at the time, right? I don’t have that mind.”
What’s next for both Adesanya and Pereira remains to be seen, but despite the feud, there seems to be a lot of respect between the pair, who have had several memorable matchups throughout their respective careers.
