Israel Adesanya won’t let the outcome of his fights with Alex Pereira deter him.
Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) has lost to Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) three times in combat sports – twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. After defending the middleweight title five times, Adesanya was dethroned by Pereira at November’s UFC 281 – in a fight he was winning before getting stopped late in Round 5.
But Adesanya will get an opportunity to right that wrong. The pair will immediately rematch in Saturday’s UFC 287 headliner at Kaseya Arena in Miami. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
“I was dominating,” Adesanya said on ESPN’s “DC & RC.” “I was winning the fight in every exchange, the standup and the ground. He recovers very well, that’s something I definitely didn’t expect, was his recovery. I put the beating on him, I hurt him, I got him tired, but he recovered very well and was able to close the show, so that’s something I can definitely take away from the last fight in our first four rounds.”
When asked how he stays this confident after being down 3-0 against Pereira, Adesanya said both him and Pereira know how their past two fights were going before the finish – and “The Stylebender” is excited to prove the doubters wrong. Adesanya also almost finished Pereira as the buzzer sounded to end Round 1 of their UFC 281 title fight.
“F*ck all the bullsh*t – he and I know,” Adesanya said. “F*ck the fans, the reporters, all that. He and I know exactly what I can do to him. I know what he can do to me. Each time I’ve fought him, I’m always winning until I’m not. If it was like say he just beat my ass from f*cking bell to bell then f*ck it, I’d probably still be this confident, I’d probably still talk sh*t, but it’s not been the case. I’m always beating him, I’m always dominating him, until he finds that way to win.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
