Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira are two names that echo through the annals of combat sports. When these titans clash, sparks fly, and fans are often left breathless. But what if their next face-off wasn’t in the Octagon or the ring but over a table? Well, that sounds weird, right? Did their bouts in the combat world bore them? ‘Izzy’ and ‘Poatan’, the fiercest of foes and the unlikeliest of friends, are pondering a rivalry of a softer kind. One that swaps gloves for paddles and knockouts for backhands.

Adesanya couldn’t resist floating the idea during a chat on his Freestylebender YouTube channel, where he was joined by Robert Whittaker. “Me and him [Alex] were talking about playing ping pong yesterday,” Adesanya teased. “That’s our next rivalry. I’m pretty good at ping pong, so I thought, you know, that’s something I can try and get him at. But he’s pretty good as well, he said.”

Whittaker, ever the joker, lobbed his own serve into the conversation, “He’s [Alex] good at ping pong? He doesn’t look like a guy that’s good at pong. I gotta look at him like and say, ‘That’s our next dude, give him a paddle, and I reckon he’s like putting smoke in people.”

From ferocious face-offs to flicked forehands, the dynamic duo seem destined to keep their competitive fires burning. Their rivalry has traversed time and terrain, from kickboxing rings to the Octagon. Pereira had the early edge, defeating Adesanya twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. But Israel Adesanya eventually served up his revenge in UFC 287, knocking Pereira out cold to reclaim his middleweight belt.

Today, they’re charting different courses. Pereira now rules as the light heavyweight champion, while Adesanya is eyeing redemption after losing his middleweight title to Sean Strickland and then coming up short against Dricus Du Plessis. But ping pong? That might be the middle ground neither man knew they needed.

Alex Pereira’s lesser-known journey, from bottle to the table

But while the idea of a ping pong rivalry might sound lighthearted, there’s a heavier side to this story. Before Pereira was serving KOs in the octagon, he was battling an opponent much harder to defeat. Alcoholism. At 16 years old, the now reigning champ, working long hours at a Brazilian tire shop was drowning his struggles in cachaça, a potent Brazilian rum. “At that time when I was really lost, I used to drink almost one liter (of alcohol) a day,” Pereira shared on Fabricio Werdum’s Nem Me Viu podcast.

The man who now dominates inside the cage was once so consumed by addiction that his greatest fear wasn’t losing a fight, it was running out of alcohol. Combat sports eventually became Pereira’s saving grace, pulling him out of the depths of addiction and into the spotlight. Yet even as he rose to the top, the Brazilian carried the weight of his past. “Until recently, I was kind of afraid, ashamed… But today, I see the need for it,” he confessed.

By sharing his struggles, Pereira hopes to inspire others facing similar battles. “How many people are suffering from alcohol or drug problems? Not only directly, but also the family,” he reflected. For Pereira, the transition from addiction to ambition is more than just a personal victory, it’s a rallying cry for anyone looking to reclaim their life.

Coming back to the offbeat friendship, one thing is clear, Pereira and Adesanya just can’t quit each other. Whether it’s fists flying in the cage or paddles slicing through the air, their rivalry keeps evolving. And maybe that’s the beauty of it. They’ve shared brutal wars and traded devastating blows, but beneath it all is a mutual drive to push one another further. Because what’s a rivalry without respect?

What do you think? Could a little friendly fire over ping pong be just the start of a new chapter in their legendary rivalry? Or will they always need the bright lights and roaring crowds of the octagon to truly settle the score?