The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira is far from over: “I’m still better”

The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira is far from over.

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira have a history from kickboxing to MMA.

It was back in 2016 where Adesanya and Pereira fought at GLORY of Heroes 1 in China. It was Pereira who would ultimately secure a unanimous decision win over Adesanya.

The two met again at GLORY of Heroes 7 in 2017 in Brazil. Pereira in the third round delivered a devastating shot to the chin that dropped Adesanya in his tracks. It was to be the first time in his career that ‘The Last Stylebender’ was knocked out.

Forward to November of 2022, at UFC 281 that saw Pereira (7-2 MMA) and Adesanya (24-2 MMA) meet for the 1st time in a middleweight main event title fight in the Octagon. The result was a devastating TKO loss for Adesanya, with Pereira taking the title away from the 33 year old Adesanya.

With that TKO victory, the running score became Pereira 3 – Adesanya 0.

Well, that was about to change when the two met again at UFC 287 this past April at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Adesanya was to get his revenge and secure a KO win over Pereira at 4:21 of round 2 to once again become the UFC middleweight champion.

So now the question remains, will there be an MMA trilogy fight between ‘Poutan’ and ‘The Last Stylebender’?

If social media offers any clues, it could be what the fighters tweeted to each other as recently as today.

Taking to ‘Twitter‘ Pereira stated:

“We are the best. But I’m still better. Number’s don’t lie. 3:1”

To which Israel Adesanya responded:

It’s Quality over quantity over here.
3-1, you can keep that. Whatever helps you SLEEP at night…☃️🧝🏻‍♀️⛸️🥶 https://t.co/lfINTt6Seu

— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 1, 2023

“It’s Quality over quantity over here. 3-1, you can keep that. Whatever helps you SLEEP at night…”

Would you like to see an Adesanya vs Pereira III? Who do you think would be the victor?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!