UFC 281: "I'm gonna fight him like its the first time"- Alex Pereira on his approach heading into upcoming fight against Israel Adesanya
Alex Pereira is all set to go up against Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 281. Despite his two wins over the reigning UFC middleweight champion back in their kickboxing days, Pereira has seemingly let go of the past and is viewing his upcoming championship bout as a fresh challenge.
Their first meeting back in 2016 saw Alex Pereira emerge victorious via decision, although many believe Israel Adesanya did enough to earn the judges' nod. In their 2017 rematch, 'The Last Stylebender' was piecing up his Brazilian counterpart before getting caught with a vicious left hook, which put him to sleep.
The tension between the two was apparent at the UFC 281 pre-fight presser, where Pereira discussed his mentality heading into the fight. 'Poatan' said via a translator:
"I know Adesanya's talking a lot. I have trained a lot to be in this moment. Adesanya's talking a lot about me... We're talking about MMA. We all know what happened in the last two fights. I forgot about him and I hope you forgot as well. I'm going to fight him like it was the first time I was fighting in my life."
Watch the full UFC 281 pre-fight presser below:
Israel Adesanya says he will "expose" Alex Pereira at UFC 281
Israel Adesanya will look to defend his title for the sixth time when he squares off against former foe Alex Pereira tonight. Pereira has been fast-tracked up the middleweight rankings owing to his history with Adesanya, who touched on the same at media day earlier this week.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi claimed that his success paved the way for Pereira to climb the ranks. The Brazilian challenger is yet to be tested against a high-level wrestler or grappler, and Adesanya believes that the former two-weight kickboxing champion would've been "exposed" if he had to ascend the rankings the hard way.
Nevertheless, Adesanya vowed to expose Pereira at UFC 281:
"I expected it. I mean if you look at his run, I cleared the middleweight division so I cleared the path for him directly to me... Without me, he [Alex Pereira] wouldn't be here. He would have been exposed a long time ago, but I'll expose him this weekend."
"I cleared the path for him directly to me."
Israel Adesanya plans to "expose" Alex Pereira at #UFC281 👀
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