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Israel Adesanya Reacts to His Rivalry with UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira; Find Out
Former UFC Welterweight champion Israel Adesanya discussed his rivalry with current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Read on to know more.
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya recently appeared on Demetrious Johnson's YouTube channel, discussing his matches with long-time rival Alex Pereira.
Alex Pereira and Israel Adensanya have a long history. In fact, Adesanya was the reason why Alex Pereira transitioned from kickboxing to mixed martial arts. Eventually, he landed in the UFC, and both locked horns inside the octagon twice.
Before fighting in the UFC octagon, Alex Pereira and Israel Adensanya fought in Glory Kickboxing promotion in mixed martial arts rule. They first squared off under kickboxing rules at Glory Kickboxing in the year 2016; Pereira's hand was raised as the winner as judges scored a match in favor of him.
The second time Alex and Israel fought was in 2017 at Glory Kickboxing, and this time, they were in the hometown of Alex Pereira, who managed to knock out Izzy.
The paths of Izzy and Poatan got separated when Adesanya jumped ships and started competing in mixed martial arts and managed to win the UFC Middleweight championship. On the other hand, Alex Pereira collected the Glory championship in two weight classes.
Izzy gave an interview where he talked about the only man in fighting history who knocked him out, Alex Pereira, and dissed him which ultimately motivated Alex to join UFC and show Izzy and the world who he is in. 
Alex Pereira and Israel fought UFC 281 and Poatan proved to the world why he is one of the best fighters in the world after he defeated Izzy via TKO and captured the UFC middleweight championship. Israel then faced Alex in an instant rematch at UFC 287, where he finally knocked out Alex Pereira for the first time in his career.
Israel Adesanya Breaks Down Rivalry with Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya recently appeared on Demetrious Johnson's YouTube channel as he discussed his rivalry with Alex Pereira.
Izzy said, "First fight in China, I thought I won. Even he thought I won until he got his hand raised. Second fight, I'm beating his a** and he gets me. Again in New York, beating that, rocked him, took him down, held him down, beat him, and he gets me... I was waiting for him to throw the knee so I can grab, but then same ref - shoutout Marc Goddard - let Jamahal Hill almost kill Glover Teixeira and Kelvin Gastelum against me in the fifth round, how many knockdowns - so I'm like, 'I was fine'"
He further added, "Then for me, I just knew I can beat this guy. It wasn't about proving it to anyone else. It was about myself. I know I can beat this guy so that last - that Miami one - I was in a different place. I had to tap into some darkness for that camp. People who knew me, I was different. I was like, 'it's no way this motherf**ker beats me four times'. It's about the story. I beat him once - how ironic - but then if I fight him again and I knock him out, what are they going to say? 'It's 3-2, best out of seven'."
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