“I Had to Let Him Know”: Israel Adesanya Reveals His Message to Alex Pereira Ahead of His Light Heavyweight Debut Against Jan Blachowicz

With the controversy that followed their UFC 287 fight, fans had no idea how Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya would react when they confront each other. The bad blood and the trash talk seem to be there for a while, with rumors of their 3rd UFC fight in the air. However, the two met at an airport recently and showed nothing but respect and humility toward each other.

The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira goes back to their kickboxing days. They fought for the first time in 2016, when Pereira came out victorious. Next, their 2017 rematch also saw the same result. After entering the world of MMA, ‘Poatan’ faced his arch-rival at UFC 281, and secured yet another victory. However, ‘Stylebender’ got his revenge at UFC 287 after securing his first-ever victory against Pereira. Now, with Alex Pereira moving to the light heavyweight division, it seems like the fighters have put a full stop to their rivalry, at least for now.

Israel Adesanya reveals his conversation with Alex Pereira at the airport

Everyone knows Adesanya for his candidness, which is exactly what he showcased in his appearance on Logan Paul’s ImPaulsive podcast. In the opening minutes of the podcast, he was asked about his conversation with his rival in their recent meet.

Despite the language barrier, the two fighters managed to convey their thoughts about Pereira’s upcoming bout against Jan Blachowicz. Moreover, Adesanya revealed that he shared his perspective on the fight, highlighting his own experience facing Blachowicz.

He acknowledged his initial expectation that Blachowicz would be more aggressive but noted the latter’s patience and strategic takedowns. “I was like ‘Jan next yeah’. Because he fights a guy that is first MMA loss for me when I went up to 205. He kind of has the same idea like me. I thought the same thing when I fought Jan, I thought Jan was gonna attack me a little bit more but he was patient. I kind of let him know just you be patient too.”

Can Alex Pereira knock Jan Blachowicz out? Adesanya answers!

Just after revealing his conversation with ‘Poatan’, the UFC middleweight champion also gave his opinion about the fight in question. According to him, Alex Pereira can knock Blachowicz out to win the fight. Further, Adesanya also recalled how he was able to damage the Polish fighter in their fight.

“I didn’t want to say too much I feel like if yeah he can knock Jan out. He can knock out Jan badly because I hurt Jan, I hurt Jan really bad. That’s why Jan decided like on the forefront I’m gonna take him down he went for the takedown.”

Read More: “They Gave Him an Easy Route”: Israel Adesanya Gets Brutally Honest About His Arch Nemesis Alex Pereira’s “Title Run”

It was a sigh of relief for the fans of both fighters to see them being cool with each other. Now, the MMA world waits to see what unfolds next in the MMA careers of Adesanya and Pereira. How do you see the fight between Blachowicz and Pereira playing out? Do you think ‘Poatan’ has what it takes to conquer the Light Heavyweight division? Tell us your views and opinions in the comments below.

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