Alex Pereira claims to have stopped his son from mocking Israel Adesanya at UFC 281
Israel Adesanya defeated Alex Pereira in emphatic fashion at UFC 287. 'The Last Stylebender' followed his victory with a memorable celebration that began with him using the former middleweight champion's bow and arrow against him and concluded with him taunting his opponent's son.
Pereira recently shared that he prevented his son, who had taunted Adesanya after his father knocked him out in kickboxing, from repeating his taunts at UFC 281.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, AlexPoatanPereira, the No.1-ranked middleweight discussed his opponent taunting his son, stating:
"We're comparing him with a child who was five years old at the time. I don't have that mind. Today, he is 12 years old and before the fight I saw that he was being influenced by other people. He even participated in some interviews and some reporters said, 'are you going to do this?' 'I'm going to do it again' and he laughed because he's a kid. He thinks it's funny."
He added:
"I did that. I knocked him out the night I won the belt and my kid was wanting to do the same thing up there. I said, 'no, stop. Don't do it. Stay here and don't do anything'. I'm a conscious guy and everything I'm saying here, I'm really saying. I wouldn't do it. If he did it and he felt better that way, it's a relief and it won't change anything for me."
Check out Alex Pereira's comments on Israel Adesanya mocking his son below (starting at the 3:50 mark):
Pereira added that, despite the taunts, he is still open to training with Israel Adesanya and turning their rivalry into a friendship. It is unclear if 'Poatan' plans to remain in the middleweight division or move up to light heavyweight.
Israel Adesanya claims rivalry with Alex Pereira is over
Israel Adesanya's rivalry with Alex Pereira has spanned seven years across two different sports. Speaking with the UFC's McKenzie Pavacich, 'The Last Stylebender' revealed that the rivalry is over following its latest chapter. He said:
"It's done now. We've closed it. It's done. I'm done with this s**t. I don't want to fight the same guy three times in a row because I probably have less than 20 fights in this game. I'm 33. I can probably go on for as long as I want to, but less than 20 fights I think I have in this game if I'm being honest so I just want to fight new faces and take new heads. That's what I want to do in this game."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments on the rivalry below (starting at the 1:25 mark):
Pereira could move up to the light heavyweight division following his UFC 287 loss. It is unclear who Adesanya will face in the first title defense of his second reign as middleweight champion. Following the bout, the two fighters discussed training together in Brazil.