“My cousin had the greatest analogy for [Alex] Pereira. He goes ‘He is Thanos… It was like when Thanos showed up and he’s just collecting Infinity Stones. There’s a timeline. You know there’s a bad guy bad guy, and then there’s this ultimate bad guy, who’s just in some f—- bar in Brazil. And then ‘Izzy’ had to open his mouth.’ If ‘Izzy’ just shut the f— up, he would have stayed where he was.” – Daniel Cormier’s comment on the Israel Adesanya-Alex Pereira rivalry from JRE MMA Show #150, ringing any bells? Does he have a point? Does ‘The Last Stylebender’ regret waking the sleeping giant?

Apparently not. On 20 February 2025, Adesanya took to Instagram and released a few videos where he reacted to some of the fans’ comments. One of the comments asked him if he regretted calling ‘Poatan’ “that guy in a bar”. Would he have chosen different words back in the 5-year-old interview? Well, Izzy was quite jumpy following his defeats against Pereira at Glory of Heroes 1 and Glory of Heroes 15. He befriended the Brazilian champion who moved up to the LHW division and began his reign there. But despite all the mellowed heat, Adesanya wasn’t regretful. 

He replied, “I don’t regret it, no, because I was right. And also I don’t because it motivated him. It’s again… I love this f—— story. It’s just the best. Like he’s actually at a bar drinking and then is like ‘Chama’. Boom! Decides to become, you know, an MMA fighter. Oh he was already an MMA fighter, but decides to like take it seriously, get to the UFC and fight me, chase me. But again, like I said, he chased me. I didn’t do that. But I don’t regret it. No. I’m glad I did because it motivated him. And look what we’ve created. I created a monster.” 

Truer words were never spoken. The fact that Pereira chased down his greatest rival across two promotions from two different sports is the stuff of legend. And Adesanya was collecting title wins like they were the Infintiy Stones. That was until Pereira showed up with that nuclear left hand.

It’s true that Alex Pereira got pretty offended by Israel Adesanya’s words. It was enough to reel him into getting a UFC contract. But does that mean he was okay with everything that Adesanya said? Let’s find out!

Alex Pereira weighs in on Israel Adesanya’s 5YO comments

Following his impeccable win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295, ‘Poatan’ went on to call ‘The Stylebender’ out for a trilogy fight during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. The Brazilian was indeed reflecting on the time when Adesanya claimed that Pereira would just be another guy in the bar talking about his one win over Izzy. However, Pereira’s intentions were clear. He simply wanted to rescue his former rival and bring him back from the hiatus. 

Through the translator, Pereira pointed out that he was never one to call people out. But fighting Adesanya was the one interesting fight that he’d always wanted. After all, it was the Kiwi who motivated ‘Poatan’ for greatness. He said, “Well, I’m never one to call anyone but I wanted one fight that’s interesting for me and it would be interesting, it going to be for the whole world, is one person [Israel Adesanya] who somehow encouraged [me] when I was in a bar drinking and he in one video said that I would stay in the bar but he rescued me. This guy also spoke recently that he will return only in 2027. So, in a way he rescued me, I want to rescue this guy because he’s a talent. He can’t sit still all this time.”

However, a third MMA fight between the two of them never really materialized. Adesanya and Pereira have turned their bitter rivalry into a sweet friendship. Now, all that the MMA stars had for each other was appreciation. Neither of them might have reached the peak if the rivalry didn’t exist, don’t you agree? But a final match in the trilogy wouldn’t hurt either.

What are your thoughts on the relationship that Adesanya and Pereira share with each other? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.