The Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) tussle and bustle between Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya and Brazil’s Alex Pereira took a new twist with the latter calling out the former for another combative showdown.
Alex and Israel have met four times in combat sports, twice in kickboxing and in mixed martial arts, with Pereira having the upper hand overall after three wins out of four.
Pereira’s comment was in response to Adesanya posting a photo of Pereira knocked out over an edited crime-scene backdrop, with the caption “I love this game.”
Pereira responded by saying, “In kickboxing, it’s impossible now to be better than me. In MMA it’s 1:1. Be real with your fans and let’s show the world who is better in MMA.”
The duo clashed for the first time in kickboxing at Glory of Heroes 1 in Shenzhen, China, on the 2nd of April back in 2016, where Pereira emerged victorious via unanimous decision.
A rematch went down at Glory of Heroes 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 4, a year later, where Adesanya was defeated again in the same category, with a left hook knockout in round three.
The bout came where both would meet in the MMA professionally, at UFC 281 in New York on November 12th, 2022. Sadly, Adesanya lost yet again, surrendering his middleweight title to Pereira in the fifth round via technical knockout.
On April 8th, 2023, at UFC 287 Adesanya got his pound of flesh with a blistering victory by knockout in the second round, reclaiming his UFC middleweight championship title.
Adesanya’s two defeats in kickboxing, plus a defeat and a win in MMA against Pereira leaves more to savor should the pair pull back their gloves for another combat for bragging rights – this time, in professional Mixed Martial Arts.
 tussle and bustle between Nigeria's Israel Adesanya and Brazil's Alex Pereira took a new twist with the latter calling out the former for another combative showdown.){kind=link}