"Take your best shot, I am bulletproof" – Israel Adesanya gears up for retribution at UFC 281 against Alex Pereira, gives a reminder to doubters
Before his upcoming UFC 281 clash, UFC star and current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya exudes confidence. 'The Last Stylebender', who is currently the No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter, recently tweeted a video with the tagline:
"Take your best shot. I am bulletproof."
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Take your best shot. Im bulletproof!
#UFC281 #yallmusthaveforgot 📝 https://t.co/Gcxmprt1kg
The 32-year-old veteran is all set to face his nemesis, Alex Pereira, in the main event of UFC 281. The card will also feature two-time women's strawweight champion Carla Esparza defending her belt against Weili Zhang in the co-main event.
The two headlining athletes have locked horns previously on two separate occasions inside the kickboxing ring. Both resulted in the victory of the only two-division Glory champion, Alex 'Poatan' Pereira. Pereira won their first fight via decision, and KO'd Adesanya in their rematch in 2017.
However, unlike their two previous clashes, they'll be fighting in the octagon rather than the kickboxing ring.
The 13-second TikTok video clip shared by 'The Last Stylebender' said:
"What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine. I run these streets, this whole city is mine. I never understand how people forget that."
Since winning the title in the main event of UFC 243 in 2019, Adesanya has been on a rampage. He has successfully defended his title five times; against Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Robert Whittaker, and Jared Cannonier.
However, challenger Alex Pereira has been on a terrifying run of his own since making his organizational debut last year, finishing two of his three opponents. 'Poatan' has also been training with fellow Brazilian and former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira.
'Poatan' knocked out rising middleweight prospect Sean Strickland at UFC 276 this July, ending his six-fight win streak. Pereira believes he has Adesanya's number, teasing a possible fight even before his debut for the organization. The former two-time Glory champ is known for his infamous left hook, which has a serious history of knockouts to its credit.
The most memorable time the two opponents called each other out was during their respective post-fight interviews at UFC 276. While talking about his potential opponents, Adesanya had said:
"We know who's next — that Poatan, Poa! Trust me! The first time I told you, it was an error on my part, spamming my right hand, and that was in kickboxing. But like I said at the press conference, next time I put you on skates, you're going to get frozen like Elsa. I will leave it at that."
Frozen like Elsa 💀💀 https://t.co/nCgGoMQwVc
With all the history and tons of bad blood between the two former kickboxers, fans are hyped up for their clash.
What's the bad blood about in the UFC 281 headliner?
Alex "Poatan" Pereira has defeated Israel Adesanya on two different occasions, including a knockout. No other athlete has defeated Adesanya twice or knocked him out.
After KO'ing Adesanya, Pereira went on to capture the Glory middleweight and light heavyweight titles. He retired from kickboxing last year to make a full transition into MMA. Ever since Pereira made his UFC debut, fans have been speculating about a tussle that was made official a few weeks ago.
Adesanya claims the first of the two fights was a robbery by the judges, while the other one was in his favor until he made some errors which resulted in him getting knocked out. Describing their first encounter, the Kiwi said on The Joe Rogan Experience:
"Yeah, he [Pereira] beat me twice — the first time as well as another time. He's walking forward and not landing shots. But I am walking forward and landing shots, but I'm moving back and hitting the whole time, and the judges gave it to him."
Izzy on his loss to Alex https://t.co/pN3yHyeImu