Forward of his return this weekend, Israel Adesanya has fond recollections on his four-fight sequence with foe, Alex Pereira — claiming he at all times “knew” he might beat the Brazilian — regardless of dropping a trio of consecutive losses in opposition to the Brazilian megastar.
Adesanya, a former two-time undisputed middleweight champion, returns to motion this weekend in the principle occasion of UFC Saudi Arabia, making the journey to Riyadh to tackle the streaking Russian-French contender, Nassourdine Imavov over the course of 5 rounds in a pivotal pairing.
Getting into the matchup off the again of a two-fight dropping skid, Metropolis Kickboxing star, Israel Adesanya dropped a latest submission loss to Dricus du Plessis again in August, having suffered a shutout unanimous resolution defeat to common-foe, Sean Strickland the summer time prior in a championship combat upset.
Israel Adesanya claims he at all times knew he might cease Alex Pereira
Adesanya would enter that pairing with the polarizing North American striker off the again of his first-ever profession win over former duel-weight champion, Pereira — snapping a winless run spanning three-fights in opposition to the ex-GLORY Kickboxing favourite, and has fond recollections of their prolonged rivalry in fight sports activities.
Picture by way of: Getty
“I feel the same way,” Israel Adesanya mentioned throughout an interview with Ariel Helwani for Uncrowned. “I believe God blessed me with a fantastic opponent like Alex Pereira. He blessed me with a fantastic problem like that. And it’s straightforward to say that now on this facet, however f*ck, you realize, it takes lots to tackle that man. And I at all times knew that it could have historical past and I at all times knew I might finest him. And I’m glad God blessed me with that problem, to have the ability to rise to the event.
“God blessed me with a great opponent like Alex Pereira. He blessed me with a great challenge like that. And it’s easy to say that now on this side, but fuck, it takes a lot to take on that man.
I always knew that we would have history, and I always knew I could best him. I’m… pic.twitter.com/tXSA7JCjoZ
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 28, 2025
“And I’m glad we can kind of share even the way we ran to each other at the airport,” Israel Adesanya defined. “Um, like what, two years ago? Three years ago, we were still kind of like beefing, but there was a little we had — this was before he fought Jan (Blachowicz). We had a little conversation after the TSA at LAX or whatever. And then, um, went our own ways. And it was — it was a cordial civil conversation with, uh, limited language barrier, I guess. But, uh, yeah, I respect the guy, and I want the best for him. I like what he’s doing. I like the fact that he’s running through everyone because, again, it just shows how good he is.”
