“Motivated me so much,” Alex Pereira reveals Israel Adesanya’s trash-talking motivated him to join UFC

Alex Pereira talks about the Adesanya interview that motivated him to join the UFC...

“Motivated me so much,” Alex Pereira reveals Israel Adesanya’s trash-talking motivated him to join UFC

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya are all set to face each other once again at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida. Adesanya looks to reclaim his title and also break his string of losses against “Poatan”.

This will be the fourth time the duo will fight against each other, having fought twice in the kickboxing ring and once at UFC 281. Pereira managed to defeat Adesanya every time, with the last time Adesanya came very close to overcoming him.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FklHlxpS_do

Alex Pereira is now the UFC middleweight champion with only eight fights on his roster. The champion has maintained a seven-fight win streak with a record of 7-1. Pereira had just made his debut at UFC 268 in November of 2021.

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‘Poatan’ reveals the interview that made his debut in UFC in 2021. It is an interview of rival Israel Adesanya trash-talking the kickboxer. Pereira says those words motivated him since he loves a challenge.

Related: Is Alex Pereira Muslim? What religion does the Brazilian middleweight follow?

What did Israel Adesanya say about Alex Pereira?

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(Image source: AP Photo/John Locher, File)

In an interview with Sporting News Australia, Israel Adesanya spoke about Alex Pereira before he joined the UFC. The former middleweight champion speaks about his former rival saying, “I’m glad it happened because I wouldn’t be here.” Here Adesanya is talking about his two losses against the then-kickboxer, Alex Pereira.

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“And even the same guy now… He watches all my fights and every time I fight, like clockwork, he will try and put something out like, ‘I beat this guy,’ but I’ve never ever watched any of his fights. Never ever. So, at the end of the day, no one knows who the fuck he is.” This surely must have infuriated the Poatan who mentioned that he surely did observe Israel’s moves once he joined the UFC and that interview provided him with the fire to join the UFC too.

Soon after, Alex Pereira makes his debut in the UFC in November of 2021 and fought his way through the middleweight roster and eventually fought Israel Adesanya to steal his middleweight title away from him. Alex Pereira is now the UFC middleweight champion and Israel Adesanya will fight him at UFC 287 to try and take back his title.

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