Israel
Adesanya and Alex
Pereira put their rivalry on hold to share a few laughs when
they recently crossed paths at the airport.
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Both fighters were in Melbourne, Australia this past week. Adesanya
trained with the New Zealand Warriors rugby team, while Pereira
visited the Melbourne Storm. Adesanya and Pereira were also in
attendance for the boxing match between Joseph Parker and Faiga
Opelu.
Though they didn’t meet during that time, they did end up at the
airport at the same time. In Pereira’s video, Adesanya jokingly
hides his face when the camera finds him, while Pereira flexes in
the distance in the version filmed by the “The Last
Stylebender.”
Guess who I met at the airport ? 👀 pic.twitter.com/c2xr4MAVUs
— Alex “Poatan” Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC)
May 29, 2023
💘💘💘❤️🔥
My life is a video game 🎮 pic.twitter.com/MoIdUniTJv— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender)
May 29, 2023
Adesanya and Pereira have squared off on four occasions in combat
sports. Pereira bested the City Kickboxing representative twice in
professional kickboxing bouts before transitioning to MMA, where he
upset Adesanya to claim middleweight gold at UFC 281. Adesanya got
the last laugh, however, when he knocked out “Poatan” in the second
round of their MMA rematch at UFC 287 this past April.
A potential third meeting in the Octagon is on hold for the time
being, however, as Pereira is slated to face Jan
Blachowicz in his 205-pound debut at
UFC 291 on July 29. Adesanya, meanwhile, is expected to face
the winner of the UFC 290
encounter between Robert
Whittaker and Dricus Du
Plessis for his next middleweight title defense.