Adesanya vs. Pereira: The Full Story of MMA’s Greatest Rivalry
- Jake Barkin
- Jan 8
- 7 min read
Some rivalries can be built in a single fight. However, the rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira is built on an entire history of war across two sports. Their rivalry lasted over eight years from kickboxing rings in China and Brazil to the UFC octagon headlining multiple pay-per-views. As Adesanya recently announced his long chapter with Pereira has come to an end, in addition to each fighter competing in separate weight classes, it is clear that these two future hall of famers will not share the octagon one last time. As one of the most historic rivalries in mixed martial arts history, let’s take a deep look into this rivalry starting all the way back in April 2016.
Before The Last Stylebender took over the UFC, he fought many times in kickboxing even dedicating himself so much that he moved to China just to improve his now well-known kickboxing fighting style. In China, Adesanya was able to fight many times throughout the year explaining why he has a historic 75-5 kickboxing record. When he was still an amateur, now head trainer Eugene Bearman took him in and helped Adesanya become the fighter that he is today. Together, they have built City Kickboxing in Auckland Newzealand into one of the best MMA gyms in the world. The likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France, Carlos Ulberg and more are all UFC fighters currently training at City Kickboxing. As Israel was starting to make noise globally through kickboxing, the UFC had their sight in signing their next potential superstar but before that, he had one last kickboxing fight left before he could make the transition to his second sport. In his way was Alex “Poatan” Pereira where they would be kickboxing each other for the second time. In their first fight, Pereira gave Adesanya his third-ever kickboxing loss in a controversial decision where many fans believe Adesanya should have had his hand raised. However, this rematch took place in Sao Paolo Brazil, the home country of Pereira, unlike their first fight which took place in China. In their second fight in just eleven months, Adesanya was dominant even forcing a standing eight count on Alex as the damage was piling up. But in the last round with just a little bit of time left, Alex countered Israel with his famous left hook and knocked out Adesanya cold giving him his fifth and final loss in kickboxing.
After the devastating loss, Adesanya officially transitioned to mixed martial arts where he would be competing against fighters that were skilled in every aspect of fighting not just kickboxing. After securing two knockout victories in Melbourne Australia, Adesanya was finally granted a contract to compete in the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the entire world as the UFC have finally given him the opportunity he dedicated his life towards. In his first fight, he impressively defeated Rob Wilkinson in the second round by TKO starting his career on the right track. However, nobody knew how big Adesanya’s potential truly was as the kickboxer managed to win four times in 2018 even knocking out the great Derek Brunson in the first round in Madison Square Garden at UFC 230. His sudden rise in the middleweight division earned him a fight against the middleweight GOAT Anderson Silva who held the middleweight title for several years. In their legendary fight, Adesanya won by a comfortable decision and Silva as Adesanya’s role model passed him the torch to become the next UFC great. Adesanya next fought Kelvin Gastelum known for his powerful punches and strong willpower. As the current champion Robert Whittaker was injured in 2019, the fight between the two was for the interim middleweight championship at UFC 236. In this fight, it was tied 2-2 going into the final round where Adesanya famously said “I’m prepared to die” emphasizing that he was going to give it his absolute all in the last round. And in the final round, The Last Stylebender secured three brutal knockdowns securing his victory by unanimous decision in one of the best fights of all time. Up next for Adesanya was the champion Robert Whittaker where they competed in Whittaker’s home country of Australia at UFC 243. Adesanya made quick work of Whittaker landing a brutal countershot knockout in the second round making him the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.
As Adesanya was consistently defending his middleweight championship, many did not know who would ever stop him and fans started to dive into his impressive career where they saw that a kickboxer beat him twice. In an interview, Adesanya arrogantly mentioned his fights with Pereira by saying, “I beat this guy! But, I’ve never ever watched any of his fights, ever. So, at the end of the day, no one knows who the f— he is. He’s gonna be that guy, when I’m world champion, when I’m a legend, he’s gonna be at some pub talking some s— about, I beat that guy one time” (MMA Mania). This lit a fire under Pereira as his kickboxing career was also coming to an end. Given Pereira’s similar historic kickboxing resume, Pereira was quickly given an opportunity by the UFC and Poatan simply never looked back since. In his first fight, he brutally knocked out Andreas Michailidis with a flying knee. Pereira after another victory against the veteran Bruno Silva granted him a ranked opponent. At the time, the fourth-ranked middleweight contender Sean Strickland agreed to fight Pereira understanding the winner of that fight would get the next title shot against Israel Adesanya. As both fighters were competing at UFC 276, the two had an intense staredown foreshadowing their futures assuming that both of them win. In the featured fight on the main card, Pereira famously knocked out the future middleweight champion Sean Strickland with his famous left hook. Adesanya handled businesses yet again in the main event but fans were becoming upset as no other contender had left a dent on Adesanya since he became the champion.
Adesanya was on pace to make his sixth consecutive title defence as he and Pereira were booked to headline UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden. This fight gave many fans hope that somebody might be able to dethrone the champion Adesanya who looked invincible at middleweight. Similar to their second kickboxing bout, Adesanya was dominant even landing a vicious counter at the end of the first round wobbling Pereira. If the round had continued, Adesanya would have knocked him out seconds later. However, just like their second kickboxing fight, Adesanya was winning the fight comfortably up 3 rounds to 1 going into the very last round. Pereira was damaging Adesanya throughout the fight with his quick and powerful calf kicks and after checking one of Adesanya’s kicks in the fifth round, Adesanya’s entire leg went limp and had no feeling in his leg. As a sitting duck, Pereira started teeing off on Adesanya and after knocking him down once, referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight giving Adesanya a chance to fight another day but took his opportunity away from trying to escape the fifth round making Pereira the new middleweight champion. The former champion had now lost his title to the very person who he was making fun of in an interview. Adesanya’s first-ever loss at middleweight in addition to his third straight loss to Pereira making him 0-3 head-head made people believe that Adesanya would never touch middleweight gold ever again.
Due to his merit, Adesanya was granted an immediate rematch as the former champion did go almost five years unbeaten at middleweight in addition to five title defences. Adesanya in his training camp for UFC 287 said he had to go and reach into dark places to finally defeat Pereira. Israel knew this was his last chance to even the score as a loss would ensure he would not get another title opportunity for a while and would also end his rivalry or lack thereof with Pereira if he went 0-4 against the new middleweight champion. In the intense main event of UFC 287 hosted in Miami, Adesanya was successful in the first round giving him a 10-9 lead even though it was very close. In the second round, Pereira started to challenge Adesanya pressuring him unlike any other fighter did before against The Last Stylebender. Pereira was gaining momentum as his calf kicks yet again were starting to take a toll on Adesanya. Late into the second round, Adesanya welcomed Pereira to tee off on him as Adesanya knew he would have to set a trap on Pereiera if he wanted to win the fight. As Pereira let go of his guard and started attacking Israel with all sorts of combinations, Adesanya patiently waited for the perfect window to counter as he bounced off the fence with a beautiful counter right hook leading to a powerful combination that knocked out Pereira cold. Adesanya then used Pereira's bow and arrow walk-out celebration three times to mark the three times he lost to Pereira throughout his career. While the two made up and exchanged kind words for each other after their second UFC fight, it was clear Pereira was cutting too much weight at 185 and moved up to light-heavyweight which ultimately concluded their intense rivalry.
After their last fight, Pereira has remained undefeated and captured his second UFC championship at light-heavyweight. He even defended the title three times in 2024 and has become the UFC’s most popular fighter, similar to Adesanya’s popularity back in 2019. Pereira after winning the light-heavyweight title at UFC 295 mentioned how Adesanya saved his career by calling him out in an interview which motivated Pereira to join the UFC and become a champion. He then called out Israel in his post-fight speech saying “Hey Adesanya, come to daddy”. While Israel rejected the fight and decided to remain at middleweight, the two-time middleweight champion lost his title to Sean Strickland in one of the biggest title fights upsets in UFC history. Adesanya is currently on a two-fight losing streak which is the first time he has lost back-to-back MMA fights in his career. His second loss was an intense title fight against the current champion Dricus Du Plessis where he was submitted in the fourth round. Adesanya now is set to headline a fight night card in Saudi Arabia on February 2nd against Nassourdine Imavov. Looking back on their rivalry, Adesanya has been very respectful of Periera and has even become a fan of watching his fights. He had additionally mentioned that he is the only fighter in UFC history to ever knock out Pereira or let alone have a victory against Pereira in the UFC. He has also hilariously mentioned that they have reversed roles as he is now the fighter that “beat that guy one time”.
In conclusion, this eight-year rivalry is one of the most historic feuds in combat sports history and has left its mark on the UFC forever. Let me know in the comments below your thoughts on this rivalry and who is the better fighter between the two. Stay tuned for daily articles by following the official X account of Blitz & Brawlers where I will be posting daily UFC and NFL-related articles. Try out our new quiz or involve yourself in our community too!
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