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Israel Adesanya first fought Alex Pereira in a kickboxing bout in 2016. Though it was competitive, Pereira won by decision.
Their rematch took place the following year, when Pereira knocked out Adesanya—marking the first and only time that occurred in his kickboxing career.
Pereira defeated Adesanya again last November, this time in the Octagon, taking the middleweight championship and severely denting Adesanya’s aura of invincibility in his first TKO loss.
All across the globe—from Shenzhen, China, the site of their first bout, to São Paulo, Brazil, to New York—Adesanya could not solve the Pereira puzzle. Yet that all changed late Saturday night in Miami.
“They say revenge is sweet,” says Adesanya. “You know I’ve got a sweet tooth. This is f------ sweet.”
Adesanya (24–2) rewrote his story at UFC 287, knocking Pereira out in the second round with back-to-back strikes from his right hand. It stands as the first UFC loss for Pereira (7–2), ending his four-fight undefeated streak in the promotion—and ignites Adesanya’s second reign with the belt.
Had Pereira again defeated Adesanya, it would have left a permanent stain. No matter who Adesanya beat and regardless of how many times he held the title, he would have always been remembered for his inability to beat Pereira. Now, with this victory, he erased that nightmare from existence by overcoming the stiffest adversity he has faced in his entire career.
“That’s the power of the human mind, the human spirit,” says Adesanya. “No matter if people count you out.”
The fight was competitive. Adesanya started strong, applying pressure early. He landed 20 significant strikes, five more than Pereira, in the opening round.
“I was on. I was f------ on,” says Adesanya, who looked different in blue shorts as opposed to the customary black and gold of a champion. “I was hunting him down, and he wasn’t comfortable with that.”
In the second round, the fight began to resemble their encounter from November. Adesanya held a slight advantage, but Pereira patiently worked his attack. He did damage to Adesanya’s lead leg with his vicious leg kicks, which was part of his game plan.
“He’s f------ good with those leg kicks,” says Adesanya. “I was ready for it, but he caught my leg again.”
The turning point came after Adesanya took the damage to his leg. Hurting more than he was letting on, he made a risky gamble to turn Pereira’s aggression against him.
“Every time I fight this guy, I always have him in the early rounds,” says Adesanya. “Then I just give him enough room to breathe so he can come back in the later rounds. This time I said, ‘I’m not giving him room to breathe. I’m going to suffocate him.’”
With Adesanya up against the cage, Pereira was pressing with his hands down. This was similar to the sequence from the fifth round of their last bout, when Pereira finished an exhausted Adesanya. Yet this time Adesanya was far fresher, and he pounced after luring Pereira into striking distance.
“I played possum,” says Adesanya. “I visualized it. After that rope-a-dope moment, I saw him lying flat on the ground, frozen like Elsa.”
Once the victory was secure, Adesanya did not hesitate to celebrate. Seven years of frustration exploded as he mimicked shooting three arrows at Pereira—symbolizing their last three fights—and he then pretended to get knocked out and fall to the mat, exactly what Pereira’s son did after Adesanya was knocked out in their 2017 bout.
“I’m petty, I remember,” says Adesanya. “The first time he knocked me out in Brazil, his son came to the ring and started to lay dead next to me.
“I looked for his kid, I saw him, and I did that to remind him.”
While Adesanya and Pereira will likely remain eternal rivals, there was a cordial backstage interaction where both expressed their mutual respect.
“We’re cool,” says Adesanya. “He’s a f------ beast, man. [Now] go cause problems at 205. Good luck to everybody else. He’s a motherf----- to deal with.”
The full post-fight conversation between @Stylebender and @AlexPereiraUFC. Respect. #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/fl8yWWQYyO
— UFC (@ufc) April 9, 2023
In no mood to discuss the future, Adesanya remained focused on celebrating his monumental victory. He did acknowledge Dricus Du Plessis as a potential opponent in his post-fight press conference, though a fight against Khamzat Chimaev in October in Abu Dhabi at UFC 294 makes the most sense considering that there is no plan to finish the trilogy with Pereira any time soon.
UFC president Dana White mentioned in his post-fight presser that Pereira is ready to move to light heavyweight, which means that Adesanya will look for a new opponent at middleweight. That is surprising, considering the trilogy could be finished later this year, but perhaps less so when looking at the big picture for the UFC. Pereira will be far closer to his natural weight when he moves up, and, from a business standpoint. prolonging the trilogy keeps both fighters strong as neither has to suffer a career-defining loss at this point.
Thrilled to finally defeat Pereira, Adesanya is looking forward to a new challenge.
“I don’t keep score, I settle them,” says Adesanya. “I’ve closed that chapter, and now I move on.
“I beat him, he’s beaten me on the big stage. We’re done.”
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
