Israel Adesanya has had one of the most fabled rivalries in combat sports against Alex Pereira. After going 0-2 against “Poatan” in kickboxing, Adesanya is now 1-1 against his familiar foe in the UFC.
“The Last Stylebender” recently fought at UFC Riyadh, losing to Nassourdine Imavov via first-round knockout. Meanwhile, Pereira lost his Light Heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.
Israel Adesanya Recounts Facing Alex Pereira Inside the Octagon
Having fought Alex Pereira four times in his combat sports career, Israel Adesanya knows what it is like to face “Poatan” better than anybody else. The two have spent months studying each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside the octagon and know one another’s fighting style inside out.
Adesanya recently shared what it was like standing across the former UFC Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion, who has a notoriously menacing presence inside the Octagon.
“He’s got more firepower. I have more fire rate,” Adesanya explained on Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo’s “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, comparing their combat approaches.
Cejduo made a spot-on reference, saying Adesanya was an “AR-15” to Pereira’s “Bazooka.”
“The way he moves, the way he tracks you down — I hurt him (in their first fight), had him rocked at the end of the first round, f***ing kept on beating him the rest of the fight — and then, fifth round, he gets this energy,” Adesanya carried on.
“People talk about the spirit realm and stuff, that sh*t is real,” he added. “If you’re a Nigerian, you understand. All the juju is happening. The village people are praying. Yeah, they’re doing their own rituals.”
“He just has this thing. He recovers well, but also his spirit — he just knows how to, just from within, bring it forth, and you feel it. I don’t know how to describe it unless you’re in there with him. You’re like, ‘Oh sh*t, this guy’s coming for me now.’ And you have to deal with it.”
Israel Adesanya Defends Alex Pereira From Henry Cejudos’ Criticism
In the above podcast, Henry Cejudo claimed that Alex Pereira’s fame and success come solely from his storied rivalry with Israel Adesanya. The UFC signed Alex Pereira when Adesanya was running out of middleweight contenders, having lapped through them all.
It is a well-known story how a passing comment by Adesanya about their GLORY matches pushed Pereira to deal with alcohol addiction issues and dedicate himself to MMA.
However, their history gave Pereira a comparatively quicker path to a title shot against “The Last Stylebender.” Cejudo mentioned that “Poatan” didn’t face fighters like Marvin Vettori, Jared Cannonier, or Yoel Romero before fighting for the title, whereas Adesanya fought several big names before he got his.
Adesanya defended his arch-nemesis-turned-friendly rival.
“I understand, but again, I rate it because I did have to go through that to become champion… He got the fast track, but he proved he’s a champion. He proved he’s a superstar. He proved he can bring attention and eyes to this game just by being himself,” Adesanya replied.
The 35-year-old also pointed out that his former foe had achieved superstar status despite not knowing how to speak English. He jokingly compared Pereira to Groot, the popular tree-like character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, voiced by Vin Diesel.
For context, Pereira is known for his iconic one-liner, “Chama.” Adesanya compared it to Groot’s dialogue, “I am Groot,” the only thing the character says in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series and other MCU movies.