Dana White gets honest about possibility of trilogy bout between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira
Dana White shared his thoughts on the possibility of booking a trilogy bout between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. 'Izzy' regained the middleweight championship via a spectacular knockout last night at UFC 287.
During his post-event press conference, White was asked whether he would be open to the idea of booking another immediate rematch after what transpired. He gave an honest assessment of the former middleweight champion's future at 185lbs:
"Honestly, I think that [Alex] Pereira probably moves to 205[lbs] after this fight. He's a monster."
"I think Pereira probably moves to 205": Dana White doesn't see an MMA trilogy between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya being next.
Full video: bit.ly/287Presser https://t.co/86cvQJ2Q0V
The UFC president noted that it was a difficult weight cut for the former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion to make middleweight. Now that his rivalry with Adesanya is seemingly over, he could move up to light heavyweight. He described how difficult 'Poatan's weight-cutting was, saying:
"I know that he still had like two pounds to cut leading up...it was like an hour left of the weigh-in, and yeah, I mean, I'm not saying he's moving to 205[lbs], but I would assume he is, you guys could ask him himself. But it wouldn't surprise me."
There will be plenty of great matchups for Pereira should he move up to light heavyweight. It will allow him an opportunity to achieve double-champ status in both kickboxing and MMA, which would be an impressive accomplishment.
Israel Adesanya shuts down talk of an MMA trilogy with Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya denies trilogy fight with Alex Pereira: 'I don't keep scores' 🤔 https://t.co/CWWftGs7N5
Israel Adesanya regained his middleweight championship in spectacular fashion and finally defeated his longtime rival Alex Pereira at UFC 287.
Despite their long history dating back to their kickboxing careers, 'Izzy' isn't planning on pursuing another immediate rematch to complete their trilogy in MMA. During his post-fight press conference, Adesanya explained his reasoning for not wanting to have a trilogy fight and mentioned that 'Poatan' will be a problem for light heavyweights to deal with:
"I gave him a fast track to the belt...But also, I was looking for that challenge...Now he's gotta do the hard yards if he wants to do that, but I don't think he's gonna because he'll go cause problems at 205[lbs], and f*ck, good luck to everybody else because he's a motherf*cker to deal with."