Israel Adesanya Reveals Details of Alex Pereira’s Private DM

It would be a sin to discuss rivalries without mentioning the epic feud between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya. Their journey began in kickboxing and ultimately led to Pereira becoming a UFC champion. However, their rivalry dates back even further, originating during their kickboxing days. After years of back-and-forth, it appears that their rivalry has finally turned into a wholesome friendship as the former two-time middleweight champion revealed his private conversation with Alex Pereira.

Adesanya and Pereira shared some of the most enticing moments in their fighting careers, but now that their rivalry has come to an end, both of them have nothing but good things to say about each other. While having a conversation with the media, the reporter asked the former champion about Alex Pereira and questioned how he felt when ‘Poatan’ appreciated his rivalry with him to which Israel Adesanya stated, “I like the fact—I mean, I didn’t know he said it on Ariel, but we talked two or three weeks ago in the DMs.”

He further added, “And he said that to me. Yeah, and I reciprocated it back. And, yeah, like, why dwell on things that don’t serve you anymore? That’s how I feel. So he realizes that, and I’m appreciative that he appreciated that. You know, without me, that wouldn’t be possible, and I appreciate what he is doing right now, ’cause he’s just wrecking dudes. All his fights are crazy, and it just makes me appreciate his game more.”

Alex Pereira considers Israel Adesanya a man who pushed him toward excellence. In Pereira’s words to Ariel Helwani, “Maybe without [Israel Adesanya] I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have got into the UFC with the good contract that I did due to the history we have.”

‘Stylebender’ and ‘Poatan’ met in the Glory Kickboxing stage, where Pereira battered Adesanya twice, which also included a brutal knockout. Adesanya was the champion when the UFC signed Pereira to restart the epic rivalry. Their initial UFC clash UFC 281 witnessed another knockout loss for ‘Stylebender’. However, he finally got his revenge at UFC 287 by knocking out Pereira, thus ending the rivalry once and for all.

Both fighters have nothing but praise for each other now; however, whether they will ever clash again remains uncertain. While we may not know the answer to that, what we do know is that Adesanya has vowed to silence his critics at UFC Saudi Arabia.

Israel Adesanya promises to silence his critics against Nassourdine Imavov

Israel Adesanya is currently on a two-fight losing streak and has been absent from the fighting world for quite some time. As a result, critics have started to claim that his era has finally come to an end. Well, Israel Adesanya might be on the road to silence his critics as he has a game plan to defeat Nassourdine Imavov. While having a conversation with Ariel Helwani, Adesanya asserted, “I don’t need anything really from this game.”

He further added, “It’s just what I want to do and I want to compete at the highest level because I still feel like I am the best and I’ll prove that. Again, I’m quietly confident with my skills and the work I’ve put in for this fight so I can’t wait to just go in there and just do the work and then people are going to be on my d**k again, like, ‘oh my god, he’s this, he’s that, he’s amazing’ because that’s the game we’re in. You have one loss and, ‘oh, he should retire, he’s done, he’s washed’ and then you go in there and smoke someone.”

Israel Adesanya has more combat experience than his opponent. However, Imavov is coming off a three-fight winning streak against some amazing fighters. Regardless, what’s your take on the clash, and who do you think will emerge victorious? Share your thoughts in the comments below.