Alex Pereira Concedes Defeat to Israel Adesanya After Legacy Comparison With Bitter UFC Rival – “I Couldn’t…”

UFC 300 was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. The main event witnessed Alex Pereira take down Jamahall Hill in just 3 seconds, and claim the mantle of the UFC light heavyweight champion. After losing the middleweight belt to his old rival, Israel Adesanya, the Brazilian’s decision to move up to the light heavyweight realm was probably the best decision, owing to which he has now become the double champion.

However, such long rivalries are seldom forgotten. Just a couple of weeks after the events of UFC 300, Pereira spoke a few words addressing his rivalry with ‘The Last Stylebender’ in an interview with Laerte Viana. Although previously Pereira followed Adesanya’s path, from Glory Kickboxing to the UFC middleweight championship, he now has little worry about it. He is all set to write his own legacy now.

Alex Pereira compares his legacy with that of Israel Adesanya

During the interview, Viana asked the ‘Poatan’ his opinion on his achievements and overcoming the legacy of Adesanya in quite a short span of time. Pereira jumped straight to the title defenses. He expressed regret over failing to protect his middleweight title even once. Nevertheless, becoming the double champion seemed to give him a new perspective. 

Pereira quoted, “Adesanya made several defenses, I couldn’t defend the middleweight belt… But there are things I did, I was a double champion. He tried, but didn’t…” Furthermore, he pointed out that in the end, the important thing is how one inspires people, claiming he was doing pretty well. “What matters is what you do and how you inspire people. And I think I’m doing it very well.”

Without a doubt, the Brazilian fighter was pretty upset regarding his long-standing rivalry with Adesanya. His words reflected that he apparently wished to successfully defend his championship title in the middleweight division. However, with his newfound success in the light heavyweight division, things have taken a turn towards a perspective showing Pereira his legacy.

Pereira wanted to fight Adesanya at UFC 300

Days after UFC 300 commenced, the former UFC contender Chael Sonnen, in a conversation with Daniel Cormier, revealed that the fighting community could have witnessed yet another Pereira vs. Adesanya fight at the event. Despite Pereira’s big win, it seems like he is yet to move on from the rivalry.

Sonnen said, “Daniel, he called for a match in three weeks. He was not kidding. He’s been calling for this match three weeks away from 300 for the last month. This isn’t a joke. This isn’t for attention. He will go up to Heavyweight and he will challenge Aspinall if they will give him the opportunity. As a matter of fact, to get on the card Saturday night UFC 300 that we’re discussing right now, partner. He offered his longtime nemesis Adesanya a number one contendership if he wanted to come up. It would be fun to fight a guy for a thousandth time. Could you even imagine that?“

Although he couldn’t be featured in the event, the New Zealander did his best to help Hill defeat Pereira. Nevertheless, the light heavyweight champion wasn’t easy to overcome. With his newfound title, Pereira has now shown interest in jumping to the next heavier division. But whatever the outcome, the fight fans would have liked one more fight between the rivals, right?