The epic rivalry between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya was tied up over the weekend with both fighters now holding one win over the other in the UFC.
Adesanya was able to regain his middleweight championship that he initially lost to Pereira back in November over the weekend. He did so via knockout in the second round with a vicious right hook.
Fans are highly anticipating a trilogy fight to end the rivalry once and for all, but they may not get their wish with both men looking to move on to new challenges.
Despite the heated nature of the rivalry, the biggest talking point is about the rivalry between Adesanya and the son of Pereira.
Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira’s son
While the pair have only met twice in the Octagon, they have history going back several years.
They encountered each other in kickboxing twice previously with Pereira winning both bouts.
The Brazilian knocked Adesanya out cold in the second kickboxing encounter and this is where his son got involved.
His son, who was five years old at the time, mocked Adesanya as he gestured falling to the mat just as the Nigerian fighter had done for real.
With this being back in 2017, surely there were no grudges held over a gesture made by a five-year-old child, right?
Wrong!
Following the aforementioned regaining of his UFC middleweight championship, the man known as ‘The Last Stylebender’ sought out his fallen opponent’s son.
Once he had located the now 12-year-old, Adesanya flopped to the mat in similar fashion to the way Pereira did during the fight.
Leaving the young man in tears, it is safe to say that Adesanya got his revenge, finally.
Alex Pereira’s son wanted to mock Izzy after UFC 281
Alex Pereira has uploaded a video to his own YouTube channel titled: ‘First Statement After My Fight’.
In this video, ‘Poatan’ reveals how he prevented his son from repeating his mocking behaviour when Pereira won the first UFC match between the two rivals.
The Brazilian stated: “I knocked him out the night I won the belt and my kid was wanting to do the same thing up there.
“I said, ‘no, stop. Don’t do it. Stay here and don’t do anything’.
“I’m a conscious guy and everything I’m saying here, I’m really saying. I wouldn’t do it. If he did it, and he felt better that way, it’s a relief, and it won’t change anything for me.”
It may be understandable for a young child to be tempted into doing something that gained such attention again, but it can also be taken as disrespectful by Pereira if he did not intervene.
Adesanya got his own back, and it could be time for all parties involved to call it quits.
