It’s weird how this guy knows me…it’s like
we’ve spent hours studying eachother’s moves and fought multiple
times or sumn’. I mean that. 🫡 https://t.co/Up7U8DyT2Q— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender)
August 25, 2024
Israel
Adesanya claims Alex
Pereira knows him all too well, which is no surprise
considering the number of times they have traded leather throughout
their stellar careers.
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Adesanya attempted to reclaim the middleweight title against
Dricus Du
Plessis in the main event at UFC 305
in Perth, Australia, on Aug. 17. Both fighters went to war in a
bout that showed glimpses of both Adesanya’s most elite form and Du
Plessis’ usual awkward brawling style. The South African eventually
defended his title with a fourth-round submission win over
Adesanya.
Adesanya’s former foe, Pereira, was keeping a keen eye on the fight
and even mentioned a potential move back down to middleweight to
challenge “Stillknocks” upon its conclusion. Pereira also observed
a lack of Adesanya’s signature leg kicks, leading him to speculate
that “The Last Stylebender” might have been injured. “Poatan”
admitted being bothered by those kicks when he fought Adesanya and
believes Du Plessis would have also been affected. According to the
Brazilian, Du Plessis had an easier night at the office due the
lack of those leg attacks.
“Of course, I don’t know how Adesanya was,” Pereira said on his
YouTube channel. “When we are there, we don’t talk about injuries,
don’t talk about problems. We are there. We want to fight, want to
win—no excuses. Maybe Adesanya had an injury. You could see he
kicked very little. That inside kick of Adesanya’s is very good.
Not everyone can do that, but he can do it very well. It was a good
weapon and he didn’t continue doing that inside kick. Even Dricus
said it bothered him, also bothered me. I said it before for the
people who asked me. He didn’t continue to do it. When he is only
throwing hands, I think it’s easier for the opponent to protect
themselves or get out. It was more boxing there. So it was easier
for [Du Plessis].”
Adesanya reacted to Pereira’s analysis, hinting that it could be
accurate.
“It’s weird how this guy knows me…it’s like we’ve spent hours
studying each other’s moves and fought multiple times or sumn’. I
mean that,” Adesanya wrote on X.
Adesanya and Pereira fought twice in Glory Kickboxing before their
UFC careers, with “Poatan” emerging victorious both times, once via
knockout. Pereira transitioned to MMA and came into the UFC much
later than Adesanya and proceeded to dethrone “The Last
Stylebender” via knockout yet again in the first Octagon meeting.
Adesanya got his revenge in their UFC middleweight title rematch
via a second-round knockout at UFC 287 in April 2023, which led to
Pereira moving up to light heavyweight to claim the title in that
division.