Will Alex Pereira Force Israel Adesanya to Make a Move Up in Weight Class Once Again After UFC 295?

The famed former UFC middleweight king, Israel Adesanya, said that he had settled the scores of his rivalry with Alex Pereira after his UFC 287 victory. But many fans don’t want to believe that is the case. These two have a history of feuding during their time in kickboxing as well. But, the current score of the Adesanya-Pereira rivalry under the UFC stands at 1-1. This makes a trilogy fight between the two almost inevitable.

But looking at the fact that Pereira and Adesanya are currently competing in different divisions of the UFC, the chances of a trilogy are quite far-fetched. It can only happen if either of them chooses to shift their weight class. But which of these two bitter rivals is more likely to make the move? Let’s have a look.

Will Israel Adesanya move to the UFC’s light heavyweight division for the trilogy bout?

Well, the fans who didn’t believe Adesanya’s words about the rivalry being settled were actually correct. Although not immediate, ‘The Last Stylebender’ somewhere had plans of taking on his former Brazilian rival in the future as well. On the 12 June 2023 episode of Ariel Helwani’s show, ‘The MMA Hour’, ‘Izzy’ made a big revelation about this topic.

He stated that he was ready to take on Pereira a third time in the UFC. But, ‘Izzy’ also had a condition for it. The Nigerian-New Zealander stated, “If he wins the belt at 205, I’ll do it again,”. After a short pause, ‘The Last Stylebender’ also revealed, “If not, I think he’s done with it, I’m done with it, everyone else wants to see it, but we’ve moved on. It’s life”.

Well, looking at the fact that Pereira will be fighting the former divisional champ, Jiri Prochazka, a lot of fans may take his upcoming UFC 295 bout as a virtual title eliminator. Even if this doesn’t happen, the current scenario in the UFC’s light heavyweight division indicates that Pereira is pretty close to gaining a title shot.

READ MORE – How Many Losses Does Jailton Almeida Have in MMA?

Do you think that he will be able to claim the divisional gold and fulfill ‘Izzy’s’ condition for the trilogy bout? We will find that out in a matter of hours. But at the post-UFC 290 press conference, Pereira revealed that he too had one major condition before accepting a trilogy fight against his bitter rival.

Which condition did Alex Pereira state to accept a trilogy bout against Israel Adesanya?

Alex Pereira defeated the former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at his UFC 290 outing. Hence, he also received a number of questions about his next move in the post-event press meet. One of the reporters there questioned Pereira about his views on a rematch against ‘Izzy’ and ‘Poatan’ gave out a positive response.

Through his translator, the Brazilian answered that he wanted to go for one more fight at light heavyweight and then drop down to middleweight for the trilogy. His translator also quoted him, saying, “They’re 1-1 at middleweight. So nothing more fair than making the trilogy at middleweight”.

Well, now that you are aware of both ‘Izzy’s’ and Pereira’s conditions for accepting a trilogy bout. Which one do you think will happen? Will the UFC authorities fix an ‘Izzy’ vs. ‘Poatan’ bout at light heavyweight if the latter manages to claim the divisional championship? Or will they oblige to Pereira’s condition and fix his trilogy bout against ‘Izzy’ at middleweight? Let us know in the comments.

Watch this Story – Joe Rogan Hits Elon Musk’s Tesla Cyber Truck With A Crossbow