Alex Pereira isn’t too fazed with Israel Adesanya’s actions after he was knocked out by him.
Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) avenged his knockout loss to Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC 281 with a finish of his own in this past Saturday’s UFC 287 headliner in Miami to even the score at 1-1 in MMA.
But in kickboxing, Pereira defeated Adesanya twice – once by knockout. In the first one, Pereira’s son, then 5, emulated Adesanya’s motion of crashing to the canvas after the knockout. So after the admittedly petty Adesanya knocked out Pereira at UFC 287, he pointed at “Poatan’s” son and did the exact same thing.
"Petty" Israel Adesanya explains why he taunted Alex Pereira's son during his #UFC287 title-winning celebration. 😬
Full interview: https://t.co/0EO21LhckK pic.twitter.com/8v5dqVTRfu
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 9, 2023
“I don’t know – I wouldn’t do the same,” Pereira said on his YouTube channel. “I can play with (my son). I’ve always played with him. I teased him. It was something that happened. I don’t know what his feeling was – it was seven years ago. He was enduring it, and I saw (Aesanya’s) joy that he had after the knockout, because that was his dream and he made it.
“But we’re comparing him with a child that was 5 years old at the time, right? I don’t have that mind. Today, he is 12 years old, and before the fight I saw (my son) was being influenced by other people – sometimes even participating in some interviews, and some (asking), ‘You’re going to do this?’ (And he said,) ‘I’m going to do it again,’ and so on – and he laughed because he’s a kid.
“I think it’s funny. I did that, I knocked him out the night I won the belt and my kid wanted to do the same thing up there. I said to him, ‘No – stop. Don’t do it. Stay here and don’t do anything.’ I’m a conscious guy and everything. I’m saying I wouldn’t do it. If (Adesanya) did it and felt better that way, OK. It’s a relief he had and if he thinks it’s better for him, OK. That won’t change anything for me.”
Pereira didn’t indicate what’s next, but vows that he still has a lot more to give.
“All the people who are following me since kickboxing, they know I am a hard worker and dedicated,” Pereira said. “I never quit. And for the people who arrived now, it’s a new phase: MMA, UFC. You can think, ‘How will this guy come back?’ Guys, I promise you, I’m going to come firm and strong. I’m going to come stronger than ever. You can write this down.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
