Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira faced each other several times in combat sports, but they never let their competition turn into personal hate, according to the latter, Afrosport reports.
When they talk trash before a fight and compete in the octagon, it might seem like they really dislike each other.
Pereira won against Adesanya twice in kickboxing, even knocking him out in their second fight. Adesanya then moved to mixed martial arts (MMA) and became the UFC middleweight champion. Pereira soon challenged him for the title and again defeated Adesanya.
In their fourth and final match, Adesanya got his revenge by defeating Pereira with a knockout. Although Pereira has won three times and Adesanya once, Adesanya had a satisfying end to their rivalry.
Afterwards, Pereira moved up to compete at 205 pounds and won the championship there, which seemed to put an end to their rivalry. Adesanya said he is done with the rivalry and congratulated Pereira on his success in the light-heavyweight division.
“I think it was a really nice thing that he did. I have a lot of respect for the fact that the rivalry stayed in the ring,” Alex Pereira said in an interview with Ariel Helwani per The Punch.
“You know what I mean? We’re waving that off. And I like the way that he said that [he’s] cheering for me and saying that he’s the only guy that ever beat me.
“In his place, I would have done the same. I want to be the only guy that beats somebody so I think it was very nice and I like that a lot.”
Pereira lost his last UFC match to Quemuel Ottoni on Oct, his second career after the defeat to Adesanya in 2023.
