They say anything can happen in the UFC. A clear example of this came as UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira couldn’t stop profusely praising his arch-nemesis Israel Adesanya in a recent interview. ‘Poatan’ and ‘Izzy’s rivalry goes back to their kickboxing days. The duo faced each other twice at Glory Kickboxing, with Pereira winning both fights. The main reason that Pereira is said to have moved over to MMA is because he was so enraged at Israel Adesanya belittling him in an interview after he became the UFC middleweight champ that the Brazilian decided to shut ‘Izzy’ up once and for all.

Their rivalry has lived up to its hype, even in the UFC. After all, the duo had two of the most memorable fights in the past few years at UFC 281 and UFC 287, both of which turned out to be electrifying bouts. Despite these battles (or perhaps because of them), ‘Poatan’ is remarkably magnanimous and has had nothing but good wishes for Adesanya, the latest example of which came in an interview ‘Poatan’ posted on his official YouTube page.

Alex Pereira sees Israel Adesanya becoming champ again at UFC 305

In the interview, Alex Pereira predicted that Israel Adesanya will make a triumphant comeback and defeat reigning champ Dricus Du Plessis at their upcoming UFC 305 bout in August. The Brazilian takes no pleasure in ‘Izzy’s recent misfortunes and said that he hopes the Yoruba keeps on fighting. “They asked me about Adesanya and Du Plessis, I said I don’t see Adesanya losing. Just because he said that about me doesn’t mean I’ll say it back. It’s what I think. I don’t think he loses this fight,” Pereira reckoned in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel. 

“I think he should continue his plans, I don’t think he finished his plans… I’m here, supporting him, I already fought him, not going to say he should lose,” he added. Adesanya had originally lost his middleweight title to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 two years ago in a massive upset. The Kiwi redeemed himself in the rematch, however, and recaptured his belt from his old foe at UFC 287 last year.

Right after this loss, ‘Poatan’, who was having trouble cutting weight to make the middleweight limit of 180 pounds, decided he would move up to 205, where he became champ in only his second fight. On the other hand, things spiraled for ‘Izzy’, as the Kiwi lost his 180-pound crown to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in a humiliating loss.

‘Tarzan’, too, however, couldn’t hold the title for long as he dropped it to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 this January. Things are coming full circle, however, as ‘Izzy’ will face ‘DDP’ to try to reclaim his old title. Meanwhile, Pereira went on to not only praise ‘Izzy’ the fighter but also ‘Izzy’ the man, who he thinks is misunderstood.

Pereira hopes he and Adesanya can be training partners

Pereira continued singing paeans to ‘Izzy’, and even said that he hoped someday he and Adesanya could put their differences aside to train together and talk shop given both are world champion fighters. Even more surprisingly, Pereira came to the defense of Adesanya the man after praising Adesanya the fighter, exonerating him of the perception fans have of the Kiwi.

The 205-pound champ claimed that he had it on good authority, from people that he trusts that ‘Izzy’s persona of a bratty, cringy guy is merely a marketing gimmick. Pereira made it a point to tell fans that Adesanya was a good man, who had a good heart, which is why he was in his arch nemesis’ corner and was ‘cheering’ for him.

“I’m not mad at him, no grudges. Like I said if one day it’s possible to train with him, exchanging knowledge… The people who truly know him that I had contact with, talk good about him, has a good heart. A lot of the times it’s just marketing I believe that, I can see he is a good person, so that’s why I’m here, cheering for him. If he doesn’t cheer for me, that’s not my problem. But I’m here, cheering for him,” he added.

What are your thoughts on Pereira’s profuse praise for Adesanya? Let us know in the comments.