Why did Alex Pereira wear a Pikachu jacket at UFC 287? 'Poatan' explains the beef

Former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira was seen wearing a Pikachu jacket in the lead-up to his UFC 287 bout against Israel Adesanya. 'Poatan' wore the jacket during media day, seemingly as a sly dig at 'The Last Stylebender's love of anime.

Despite speculation suggesting that Pereira wanted to take shots at Adesanya by wearing the jacket, he has made it known that it was more of a joke and that people blew it out of proportion.

In an interview, Pereira cleared the air and discussed his jacket. He told Nina Drama via his coach, who translated:

"We were just joking and then, like you know, mess with Izzy but like everybody blew it out of proportion. So, no bad deal."

Watch the video below:

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira locked horns for the fourth time in their combat sports careers this past weekend. Coming into his fourth bout against 'The Last Stylebender', 'Poatan' had won all three of their previous meetings, twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. Notably, two of the losses came via knockout.

Adesanya finally got one back on Pereira, putting the towering Brazilian to sleep in the second round of their championship fight to re-claim the UFC middleweight title.

Still not over this celebration 😤 #UFC287

🎥: @ufc https://t.co/K3noej0s0x

How did Israel Adesanya react to Alex Pereira's Pikachu jacket?

Israel Adesanya was certainly not a big fan of Alex Pereira sporting a Pikachu jacket. Even though 'Poatan' made it known that he was gifted the jacket in an interview, 'The Last Stylebender' thought it was an attempt to get into his head and resorted to an x-rated meme while reacting to the same.

Adesanya posted a picture on Twitter showing an explicitly edited Pokemon, 'Jigglypuff', with a caption that read:

"I heard you like Pokémon. Catch deez! @AlexPereira"

Take a look at Israel Adesanya's tweet below:

I heard you like Pokémon. Catch deez! @AlexPereiraUFC https://t.co/AiDoUIKKhX

In the build-up to their UFC 287 clash, Alex Pereira repeatedly mocked Israel Adesanya's soft toy collection and his love for anime. The same could be the reason why 'The Last Stylebender' thought 'Poatan' wore a Pikachu jacket just to get under his nerves.