Alex Pereira mocked Israel Adesanya with one last trolling move at this week's UFC 287 media day in Miami, donning a Pikachu jacket to poke fun at his rival.
The middleweight duo will meet for the second time in the UFC octagon and fourth time across all disciplines tomorrow night, with Pereira unbeaten in their three fights including two vicious knockouts. And the usually stoic Brazilian offered a slight jab at his opponent at their press conference, making fun of Adesanya's love of cartoons.
Pereira had recently been gifted a series of Pokemon-related toys, as well as a denim jacket with Pikachu on the back of it. And he wore the top to the pair's promotional event on Wednesday in yet another poke at his long-time rival, who is known to be a massive fan of anime.
“Honestly, somebody just gifted it to me like ten minutes ago,” Pereira said of his jacket, before insisting that it wasn't part of any mental battle. “I liked it, I thought it was cool – and it matched my pants. Nothing set up, I really just got this ten minutes ago, and I think it matches my pants.”
In an interview with YouTuber, Nina Drama, Pereira was gifted several Pokémon-themed toys ahead of UFC 287, including a Pikachu plush toy, and a denim jacket. The influencer, who has over 5million followers between Tik Tok, Instagram and YouTube, filmed a skit with Pereira and then gifted him toys based on the cartoon.
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He opted to wear the Pikachu outfit to the weigh-in, which prompted a crass response from Adesanya on social media who shared a meme showing a character from the show edited in crude fashion. He captioned the picture "I heard you like Pokémon. Catch deez! @AlexPereira"
The pair's feud goes back to their kickboxing days, when Pereira won a controversial decision to hand Adesanya a rare loss. They rematched, with the Brazilian struggling early before brutally knocking out his rival for yet another victory, before they went their separate ways for years.
Pereira became a two-time Glory kickboxing champion, while Adesanya became one of the greatest MMA fighters of his era, completely dominating the middleweight division. But within just eight fights, the Brazilian managed to get himself into title contention and managed to stop his old foe once again after losing three of the initial four rounds on every scorecard.
