UFC 281: Alex Pereira warns Israel Adesanya that his team won't be there to save him in the fight
Alex Pereira has warned Israel Adesanya that his team won't be present inside the octagon to help him during their fight. Pereira defeated 'The Last Stylebender' via unanimous decision in their first fight in 2016 and bested him again via third-round KO in their rematch in 2017.
Both of those fights were kickboxing bouts. At Saturday's UFC 281 event, the duo is set to clash for the third time but in an MMA fight rather than a kickboxing match.
Don’t forget Alex Pereira is the only person to ever KO Israel Adesanya 😤
https://t.co/jYCuPl83Vv
During tonight's UFC 281 pre-fight press conference, Israel Adesanya addressed the fact that he and several other members of his native New Zealand's City Kickboxing (CKB) gym will compete at UFC 281. When asked if the support from his CKB group provides added confidence heading into the event, Adesanya stated:
"We've got myself, Dan [Hooker], Brad [Riddell], and Carlos [Ulberg] fighting. But behind us is a whole army, and then behind us is a whole nation, is a whole spirit, is a whole 'Mana.' And you can't f**k with it. Trust me. You can't."
Alex Pereira chimed in and jibed at Israel Adesanya. Pereira spoke in his native language, Brazilian Portuguese. As per his translator, 'Poatan' said:
"You're gonna be alone inside that octagon without a team."
Adesanya fired back by suggesting that Pereira too will be alone in the octagon.
Furthermore, Adesanya indicated that while his team won't be physically present inside the octagon, their spirit will be with him and help him against 'Poatan.' Following that, Pereira seemingly questioned Adesanya's will to fight by asking whether he really wants to be there. Adesanya hit back by simply saying, "I am here."
Watch Adesanya and Pereira's verbal exchange at 28:15 in the video below:
Belal Muhammad foresees a wrestling-heavy fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira at UFC 281
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his title against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 on November 12th. Leading up to the highly-anticipated fight between the two decorated kickboxing veterans, Belal Muhammad has made a rather surprising prediction regarding how things could play out.
The UFC welterweight contender insinuated that the Adesanya-Pereira matchup could potentially feature more takedowns than the UFC 281 co-headliner -- a UFC women's strawweight title matchup between wrestling savant Carla Esparza and Zhang Weili.
Many in the MMA community foresee Israel Adesanya utilizing his grappling skills to mix things up and outsmart 'Poatan.' On that note, Muhammad echoed similar sentiments and tweeted:
"I think there will be more takedowns in the main event than the comain this weekend"
I think there will be more takedowns in the main event than the comain this weekend