UFC 287 saw a great rivalry take a new turn. The long-standing rivalry between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya saw its latest chapter unfold when the two middleweights fought for the belt in Miami. Alex Pereira was the champion defending his belt against a challenger who may have decimated all other opponents in the division but had never gotten past Pereira. The rivalry goes back to the days when both Pereira and Adesanya were fighting in Glory Kickboxing. In the two encounters there and the last encounter in the UFC at UFC 281, Pereira had always prevailed. Things changed at UFC 287.

Israel Adesanya pulled off a famous victory and is super excited and proud about it. The celebration showed it all as ‘The Stylenbender’ made gestures of shooting arrows at a knocked-out Alex Pereira. Fans know Alex Pereira for his shooting arrows gesture when he walks into the cage. It appears that those shots he took at Adesanya made their mark on his heart. Adesanya returned the favor after his stunning victory over the Brazilian.

Israel Adesanya opens his account in the ongoing rivalry

Going into the fight, Adesanya was sitting at a cumulative score of three losses against Pereira with no wins. While Alex Pereira had mentioned that he wanted to make it 4-0, Adesanya was looking for his first win and was focused on it. After finally avenging his loss, the proud Nigerian tweeted his feelings with a video of his shooting arrows celebration that he borrowed from Pereira. Adesanya tweeted, “I don’t throw and hope, I aim and fire!” – Me”.

It seemed that Israel Adesanya was bottling up all the hate and challenges that had been thrown at him since his last loss against Pereira for this day. Izzy is now extremely proud of taking up a rematch and not running away from the fight.

Did Israel Adesanya call Pereira’s previous wins lucky?

Fans who might have followed Adesanya since his initial days will know about the two Glory Kickboxing fights he lost to Pereira. In both fights, experts thought, Adesanya was about to win, but Pereira snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. At UFC 281, ‘The Stylebender’ looked to be waltzing towards victory. He was leading on the scorecards and dominating Pereira.

Read More: The Hidden Message Behind Israel Adesanya’s ‘Dog Collar’ Revealed

The fifth round, however, saw an inspired Pereira rally himself to victory. He launched a flurry of punches at Adesanya, and the ones that connected well rattled him. This led to the referee stopping the fight. Adesanya, it seems, was trying to point out that Pereira may have gotten lucky on previous occasions, but Adesanya took the belt with might and persistence.

Adesanya’s win over Pereira has surely given him immense confidence. He has finally killed the demons that Pereira carried and has come out as a champion. Would you like to see the two fight in a UFC trilogy? Let us know in the comments below.

Watch This Story: The saga of bad blood between Alex Pereira Vs Israel Adesanya