Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira shared an intense face-off at Madison Square Garden ahead of their UFC middleweight title fight on Saturday night.
The former kick-boxers will compete in a trilogy of sorts this weekend, having fought twice in the ring before Adesanya moved full-time into MMA, where he is considered a potential all-time great after a dominant run at middleweight. Pereira has just seven professional bouts in the cage to his name but has raced to title contention with three quick-fire wins in the UFC.
Prior to their meeting at yesterday's pre-fight press conference, Adesanya and Pereira had shared the stage ahead of their UFC 276 fight, but hadn't faced off as they had different opponents. But when they defeated Jared Canonier and Sean Strickland respectively, the stage was set for their reunion.
