[ad_1]
Alex Pereira followed him into the UFC because he didn’t like the way Israel Adesanya ignored his legacy.
Less than a year after losing to Pereira (MMA 7-1, UFC 4-0) for the second time in kickboxing, Adesanya (MMA 23-2, UFC 12-2) has made it to the UFC. and became a great middleweight player. He won the belt and defended it five times.
Pereira deposed him. He needed to win three octagons to earn his shot at UFC 281. The pair are scheduled to meet again at his UFC 287 headlining in Miami on Saturday, and Pereira revealed that Adesanya’s rise in the UFC inspired him.
“When Israel Adesanya joined the UFC, I was interested in fighting in MMA, so I started looking into it,” Pereira said at UFC 287 Countdown. That motivated me a lot.”
Pereira referred to an interview Adesanya gave to Sporting News Australia in 2020, in which he denied him.
“He watched all my fights and every time I fought like clockwork, he was going to say something like, ‘I beat this guy,'” Adesanya said. “At the end of the day, no one knows who he is. When I’m world champion, he’ll be that guy. When I’m a legend, he’ll be doing shit in some pub.” You’re talking about, “I beat that guy once.”
Pereira didn’t take Adesanya’s words very well and their storyline led to his rapid rise in the UFC.
“I felt challenged,” Pereira said. “And whenever there is a challenge, no one can hold me back. I wanted a new challenge, and the UFC was it.”
UFC 287 takes place Saturday at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami. The main card will air on prelims on ESPN and pay-per-view following the initial prelims on ESPN+.
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s UFC 287 event hub.
[ad_2]
Source link