MIAMI – Israel Adesanya has had rematches before, but none like his upcoming one vs. Alex Pereira at UFC 287.
At UFC 281 in November, Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) lost the middleweight title to Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) – the man who already beat him twice in kickboxing. In just four UFC fights, “Poatan” was able to dethrone Adesanya and become the first man to knock him out in MMA, just like he did in their second kickboxing match. Pereira had to rally to get the finish in their past two fights, which makes the narrative that much more compelling.
But in Saturday’s main event, Adesanya will look to reclaim his title when he runs things back with Pereira one more time at Kaseya Center. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
“This is probably the greatest storyline in MMA history,” Adesanya told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during Wednesday’s UFC 287 media day. “It’s probably one of, if not the greatest storyline in MMA history, and not many people get the opportunity to show how great they are, to rise to the occasion when all the odds are stacked against them, when people are counting them out.”
Adesanya, 33, is aware that Pereira was fast tracked due to their history. Because he’s down 0-3 in their series, he sees UFC 287 as a golden opportunity to make an emphatic statement and turn the tide in his favor.
“It’s spanned across years, across two different combat codes, spanned across different countries,” Adesanya said. “The history of matches between Alex. Even in the way that, in his head, he’s the protagonist. In my view, I’m player one. I’m the protagonist, he’s the antagonist. I’m just doing so much better in life. He kept on trying to chase what he already had. He got to this point and I made it easy for him to get to the title. I didn’t make it easy for him to get the title, but to get to the title because he already had that win over me in kickboxing. He dodged the gauntlet.
“Now this is the point where I’m down two fights in kickboxing, one fight in MMA. I’m down three. This is in very movie, that one shot. This is my Eminem moment, my ‘8-Mile’ moment. ‘You get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a life time.’ This is it for me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
