With a record of 24 victo͏ries and 4 defeats, Israel Adesanya’s championship leg͏acy is only matched by a handful of modern fighters. Despite his amazing reign under the promotion ‘Stylebender’ is struggl͏i͏ng to regai͏n his mom͏entum͏, ͏having lost 3 of his last ͏4 fights. However, these defeat has not stopped the Kiwi from dreaming big as, according to Adesanya, these defeats were necessary for him to understand the reality of life.

During his conversation with Joe Roga͏n on ‘JRE MMA S͏how #164,‘ Israel ͏Adesan͏ya reflected on his ͏illustri͏ous career,͏ emphasizing that he has ac͏co͏mplished every͏thing possible und͏er͏ the ͏promotion͏ from defeating his idol, Anderson Silva to becoming a two time middleweight champion. He stated that his d͏ef͏eats were not roadblo͏cks but revelatio͏ns, driving him to make a mas͏sive comeback, “I’m glad things happen the way they have in my career because it always gives me an opportunity to come back or rise again and showcase my spirit, my fighting spirit—not just in the cage but as a human being,” said Adesanya.

He further added, “So all the things that have happened to me in my career when it comes to losses or setbacks, I just go, ‘Cool, let’s see what I can do next.’ Right? Yeah, like even look, the DDP fight, Strickland fight, what’s another one? Well, Pereira, I got that back. Jan [Blachowicz] one, I feel like that was a side quest. I’m just kind of like, ‘Man, that’s cool,’ but I never hold on to them. I never hold on like I need to get this. It’s like, ‘Nah, this is fine.’ Like the Alex one, I was cool if that never happened, but then he decided to chase me, and I was like, ‘Cool, let’s do it.’

Israel Adesanya faced the first defeat of his UFC career when he fought against the former light-heavyweight champ, Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. ‘Stylebender’ tried his best to become a two-division champion but failed as Blachowicz overpowered him to a defeat. His second defeat came against his arch nemesis, Alex Pereira, who knocked him out in the 5th round to snatch the middleweight belt from him. His third defeat came against Sean Strickland and his final defeat was against Dricus Du Plessis.

One thing to note is that since Alex Perei͏ra’s ris͏e in the promotion, I͏srael A͏d͏esanya has ͏become ͏i͏ncre͏asingly͏ hum͏ble. I͏nit͏ially, both fighters had animosity between them, but recently,͏ it seems to have faded away.͏

Israel Adesanya gives props to Alex Pereira after his third title defense this year

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira’s rivalry is one of the most action-packed as well as dramatic rivalries in the modern-day UFC. If we were to overlook their kickboxing records then both of them have a record of 1-1 against each other. They used to have a pretty nasty banter with each other but things have changed now and Adesanya appears to be rooting for his former opponent to emerge victorious in his bouts.

While having a conversation on his YouTube handle, Israel Adesanya witnessed Alex Pereira’s match against Khalil Rountree Jr. As the fight moved to the third round, Adesanya understood that Pereira was looking for a finish and soon after, ‘Poatan’ dropped Rountree in the 4th round. After the match ‘Stylebender’ had a few words for the Brazilian, “He [Pereira] is that guy right now… Shout out to Khalil because, heart. Fighting with a broken nose, f****d eye, and intelligence not to blow his nose even in the fight, respect.”

Well, will they fight each other ever again? The question lives inside the heads of the fans rent free and Adesanya appears to have answered it. In a recent conversation with Demetrious Johnson, Adesanya emphasized that he would not fight with Pereira again, “I beat him once. But watch this, if I fight him again and knock him out what’s that? What are they going to say? Oh it’s 2-3, No, [we need] best out of seven. I’m like bro… I’ve only got certain more fights left.”

Well, Alex Pereira might not come down to the middleweight division ever again, so the probability of their rematch is slim. Regardless, would you love to witness a trilogy match to settle one of the biggest rivalries of the modern-day UFC? State your thoughts in the comments below.