Alex Pereira has become the most sought-after fighter in the UFC after defeating Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 and claiming the middleweight champion’s label for himself. Including their two kickboxing matches, this marked Pereira‘s third straight victory over Adesanya. In spite of that, this still seems to be merely the commencement of their UFC saga. Both combatants have made it clear that there is still plenty to be done and their rivalry is far from over.
Additionally, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has expressed his interest in a rematch on various occasions. And now Pereira has opened up about facing Adesanya again in the octagon. Having said that, ‘Poatan’ has options now. But he isn’t ruling out the possibility of an Adesanya rematch. Speaking of which, the Brazilian disclosed one important factor he will consider in advance if he encounters the New Zealander again.
Alex Pereira will have an earthy approach to Israel Adesanya rematch
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The reigning middleweight champion recently spoke with MMAFighting and talked about what’s next for him. And he named two fighters he’d like to face next. Pereira said, “Adesanya was a dominant champion so he has the preference to be competing for the belt again, but if he doesn’t want that, it will be Whittaker. I don’t think they’ll put someone else in other than Whittaker. He already said his game doesn’t match well with Adesanya, but would be a good fight with me, so I’ll be ready for both.”
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The 35-year-old further added that if the rematch is to materialize, he’ll have to get past the fact that he’s dominated Adesanya three times already. He said, “I try to forget what has happened.”
Further in the conversation, Alex Pereira stated, “If we think about having three wins over someone and think it’s going to be easy — I said it before the [third fight] that it makes no difference, I can’t cross my arms and expect him to go out in front of me. He’ll always try to evolve and come a better fighter, and I have to be better than last time to be fighting this guy because it will be a tough fight.”
Having said that, Pereira even claimed that if none of Israel Adesanya or Robert Whittaker accepts his fight, he still has other options for him. Speaking of options, Jamahal Hill, the newly crowned light heavyweight UFC champion, is heavily touted by the fans to face Alex Pereira. And Hill appears to be ready for this new-found challenge.
Jamahal Hill isn’t shying away
It seems that Jamahal Hill has brought upon an unexpected hunt on him by Alex Pereira following his victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 284. Teixeira happens to be the coach to the middleweight champion and there’s been a lot of conjectures that Pereira will avenge his coach by facing Hill.
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The Chicago native spoke with Middle Easy and addressed the situation. “They tell me he (Alex Pereira) might come up. Come on in my boy! Whenever he decide. Oh yeah! I can go up there and f*ck him up. Come on in my boy!.”
The 31-year-old further added, “All that smoke! All that. I was there, I watched it live, you know what I’m saying. All respect to Izzy, but I’ll knock Pereira the f*ck out.”
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It seems like there’s a plethora of options for Alex Pereira to pick next. Who would you like to see Alex Pereira fight next? Let us know in the comments below.
