Alex Pereria has piled on almost 30lb in a little over 24 hours ahead of his UFC title fight against Israel Adesanya tonight.
Pereira has been fast-tracked to a middleweight title shot and will take on Adesanya at UFC 281 in New York after only seven MMA fights - and just three in the UFC. But the Brazilian holds two victories over Adesanya from their kickboxing careers but will be the underdog for their trilogy bout.
Pereira flirted with danger ahead of the official weigh-in on Friday when he waited until five minutes before the end of the two-hour window to step on the scales. But he allayed fears he would miss weight when he registered 184.6lb while Adesanya was bang on the 185lb limit.
And Pereira has now posted an update to his social media account which shows him scaling 95.9kg (211.4lb), almost 27lb heavier than his official weight a day earlier. And the challenger believes he holds the advantage heading into the third instalment.
“We both have evolved a lot,” he said. “But I think I have the edge on the kickboxing, because I evolved a lot after the fight. People want to say, ‘Oh, but now this is a MMA fight.’ But many people think it’s going to be a kickboxing fight inside the Octagon. So with that said, who do you think is going to have the edge? Me, that kept doing kickboxing for all those years, or him that stopped training kickboxing?”
Will Alex Pereria beat Israel Adesanya for a third time? Let us know in the comments section below
Adesanya, meanwhile, is confident he can right the wrongs of his two defeats by Pereira, which included a KO loss, without playing mind games. “I don’t really need to say anything,” he said. “The fight’s sold. I don’t need to try and get under his skin. For what?
"Certain people, like when I fought [Derek] Brunson, that was easy because I knew how to poke the bear in that one. [Pereira] doesn’t even speak English, I don’t need to say anything to him. It would be foolish of me to try and intimidate him, that’s the wrong tactics. You have to change your tactics according to the situation. All I’m doing right now is just staying patient and doing my work."
