Israel Adesanya can only see one circumstance that would lead to him sharing the cage with Alex Pereira one more time.
Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) vanquished his demons against longtime rival Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC 287 when he scored a vicious knockout to reclaim the middleweight title from the Brazilian, who had previously beaten him twice in kickboxing and once in the UFC octagon.
There was demand from some of the MMA community to book a fifth fight overall fight and third under the UFC banner between them immediately, but Pereira instead moved to light heavyweight, where he’ll debut against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City.
UFC president Dana White has said that if Pereira wins against Blachowicz, it would “make sense” for him to challenge for the 205-pound title. If he can do that, then capture the belt, Adesanya said he would give serious thought to moving up himself and arranging another showdown.
“If he wins the belt at 205 I’ll do it again,” Adesanya told “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani. “But if not – I think he’s done with it. I’m done with it. I think everyone else wants to see it, but we’ve moved on.
“If I were to bet money on it, no (I don’t think it happens). 205, I’ve been there, it’s hard. If he wins the 205 belt, though, they might give him a fast track like they did with me, and then they’re going to have a magic, crazy, f*cking epic fight at 205 with me and him. That will be us for the fifth time.”
Adesanya has already tested the waters at light heavyweight, and it didn’t go well for him. He lost a decision to then-champ Blachowicz at UFC 259 in March 2021, but “The Last Stylebender” has said he would eventually return to the weight class for another attempt at a second belt.
If Pereira ends up climbing the mountain it would be the perfect scenario, but it’s not one Adesanya is chasing, he said. He already got the win his needed against Pereira, and now he’s at peace with the history between them.
“If we fight another 10 times and he beats me all 10 times, I don’t care,” Adesanya said. “It’s not about that. I just have to prove to myself that I can beat this guy. Cause every time I fought him – the first time I won the fight the judges got it wrong. The second time I was beating him and he got me. Third time, again, MSG, I was beating him and he got me. I’m like, ‘We know we can beat this guy.’ He just has that spirit. He’s a great fighter. Honestly, he’s a cool guy. I like his story. Even Brazil when he knocked me out it’s a cool story. It’s a cool story for him.
“But I just know I can beat this guy. I put so much pressure on myself that last camp. I went to some place. … I’m never going to let my story be written like this, like, ‘Oh, he’s the greatest ever, but he could never beat this guy.’ So I made sure to put it on myself to beat this guy, and I did.”
