"There's so many weapons that were hidden in me" - Alex Pereira turns down narrative that fight against Israel Adesanya will be a purely kickboxing match
Alex Pereira seemingly disagrees with the narrative that his upcoming MMA fight against Israel Adesanya will primarily be a kickboxing match. The former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion recently spoke to Glory’s ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini regarding his highly-anticipated trilogy matchup against Adesanya.
The first fight between Pereira and Adesanya transpired in the sport of kickboxing, with the duo facing off at Glory of Heroes 1 in China in 2016. Pereira won that fight via unanimous decision. They crossed paths again in 2017, once again under kickboxing rules, clashing at Glory of Heroes 7 in Brazil in 2017.
The rematch witnessed ‘Poatan’ defeat Adesanya via third-round KO. Pereira thereby became the first, and thus far only, person to knock ‘Izzy’ out in a professional combat sports contest.
Speaking to Joe Valtellini, Alex Pereira shed light upon his kickboxing history with Glory and his MMA career. ‘Poatan’ suggested that he still loves kickboxing, but acknowledged that his transition to MMA has allowed him to explore several additional combat techniques.
Valtellini proceeded to question the Brazilian regarding his much-awaited trilogy fight against Adesanya, which will be an MMA bout in the UFC. When asked about the speculation that the bout will largely be a kickboxing affair, since both he and Adesanya are former kickboxers, Pereira stated the following via his translator:
“Well, I know how people think, but, you know, we should talk about MMA. And like I said before, there’s so many weapons that was kinda hidden in me that I’ve been able to explore and now present them throughout the game. I’m gonna fight MMA.”
Watch Alex Pereira discuss the topic at 2:34 in the video below:
Israel Adesanya believes the universe has given him the opportunity to exact revenge on Alex Pereira
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his title against archnemesis Alex Pereira at UFC 281 on November 12. In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, ‘The Last Stylebender’ touched upon the Pereira matchup. ‘Izzy’ emphasized that he never shies away from facing the toughest opponents, including Pereira.
Furthermore, Israel Adesanya explained that he wasn’t actively seeking revenge against ‘Poatan.’ Nevertheless, he believes that the universe has presented him with the opportunity to avenge his losses to Pereira. Adesanya said:
“After he beat me you know, in Brazil, I never had any plans of trying to get revenge or anything like that because I don't hold on to things. I let go of things but again I'm telling you the universe has presented this to me and it's right there. It's the perfect alley-oop and I'm gonna slam this.”
Watch Israel Adesanya’s interview below: