The prospect of an Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya trilogy had MMA fans salivating prior to the announcement of the UFC 300 headliner. Now, in a recent Q&A for the event, 'Poatan' touched on his thoughts regarding a possible trilogy bout with Adesanya, as well as his rival's upcoming middleweight title fight.
Regarding whether he felt Adesanya was deserving of an upcoming middleweight title fight with newly minted 185-pound champion Dricus du Plessis, the light heavyweight kingpin was diplomatic with his answer.
"I think he's put in the work. He's done a lot and, you know, it's really up to him if he feels like he needs another fight, then I would support him. And if he's willing to go straight to the belt, then I could support him as well for that."
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That, however, wasn't the end of the Adesanya questions for Pereira, as he was subsequently asked whether he would issue yet another challenge to 'The Last Stylebender' following a possible victory over Jamahal Hill. However, 'Poatan' was quick to shut that down.
"No, I think it needs to happen naturally. I won't push for it anymore. I've talked about it after my last fight. Whatever the organizaiton wants to do, they know what they're doing and I'm not going to push for it."
Check out Alex Pereira's comments about fighting Israel Adesanya again, as well as his rival's middleweight title shot (19:14) and (34:01):
After TKO'ing Jiří Procházka for light heavyweight gold at UFC 295, 'Poatan' implored Adesanya to return to the octagon, hoping to settle their rivalry once and for all. However, his callout was quickly dismissed by the man himself, and now, Pereira is scheduled to defend his title against another former champion in Hill.
Alex Pereira captured a UFC title in near-record time
Alex Pereira had a stunningly quick route to the UFC middleweight title, taking part in just three bouts in the promotion before being booked to face Israel Adesanya for the 185-pound strap. In only his 8th professional MMA bout, Pereira TKO'd Adesanya to become the middleweight champion.
While he failed to defend the title, losing it to Adesanya in an immediate rematch, he subsequently moved up to light heavyweight, where he beat Jan Błachowicz to earn a title fight for the vacant divisional strap against former champion Jiří Procházka, who he TKO'd to become a double champion, also in record time.
