A lot has been made of the rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. With another showdown soon upon us, Izzy and Alex are turning up the heat with their pre-fight jabs. Whilst Pereira has a habit of trolling everything that Adesanya does, it appears as though Izzy has hit back with some of his own.
Previously, Pereira snatched away yet another victory against Adesanya at UFC 281. Although he was initially losing, Poatan did well to turn things around in the 5th and deliver a TKO finish. Having secured the middleweight title, he is still keen on fighting Adesanya in the rematch and vice versa.
Speaking in an interview with The Rock radio station, Adesanya spoke about Alex’s obsession with him. “You know what’s weird, though? For me, it’s like, I don’t really care. But, one reaction he gave (to Adesanya’s UFC 286 reaction video), it panned to like some stuffed animals where he goes, ‘Ah’, and for me, I’m like, ‘Who the f—k do you think you are?”
Talking about the matter, Stylebender continued. “Like I don’t look at him and go, ‘Why you wearing that f— king face paint and crawling on the ground like you’re a tiger?’” For the most part, Adesanya believes that people should be left to their own devices and not be judged for doing what they want. Similarly, Izzy feels that him living his life is for some reason upsetting for Pereira.
When will Israel Adesanya rematch Alex Pereira?
Immediately after his loss at UFC 281, Adesanya called for an immediate rematch. In the post-fight conference that followed, Israel revealed that he suffered an injury to his perennial nerve which meant that he could not orient himself properly and evade Pereira’s attacks. Now, he gets the chance to make things right when the two square off again at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida on April 9.
Whilst Pereira has now bested Adesanya on three separate occasions, this one will be their biggest fight to date. As Izzy calls it, this could be his ‘Last Dance’ as he seems uncertain of his future if he loses this fight. However, a saving grace for Izzy is the fact that he dominated their last fight and nearly knocked out Pereira in Round 1. Moreover, it appears as though Adesanya is putting in work to improve other aspects of his game as well.
The rematch is just a week away!!
[ #UFC287 Countdown premieres this Saturday at 7pmET on ESPN 2 📺 ] pic.twitter.com/uK5uId23y6
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2023
Recently, clips of Adesanya working on his wrestling could be seen on his YouTube channel, FREESTYLEBENDER. Notably, one of the clips in his training camp video showed him trying to submit a female sparring partner with a rear-naked choke. Although he assures everyone that it is perfectly ‘fine’ and ‘consensual’, the matter was a subject of controversy online.
Even though it seems like fun and games in his camp, Adesanya will be coming into this fight fully prepared and with everything he’s got. On the other hand, Pereira and Glover Teixeira are also hard at work, cooking up new strategies for the upcoming fight. Who do you think wins this one? Will Adesanya finally break the curse or will Poatan emerge victorious once again? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
