Israel Adesanya has responded to a callout from Alex Pereira after the Brazilian won the light heavyweight belt at UFC 295. Pereira defeated Jiří Procházka by knockout in the main event to secure the title. ‘Poatan’ had some choice words for the former middleweight champion in his post fight interview, and is seemingly looking for another fight with ‘The Last Stylebender’, this time at light heavyweight.
“Hey Adesanya, come to daddy,” said Pereira.
Adesanya Reacts to Callout From Pereira
Soon after the callout, Adesanya posted his response on ‘X’.
Pereira and Adesanya have extensive history. The pair have competed against each other four times in combat sports, and Pereira won three of those encounters. He holds two victories over Adesanya in kickboxing and one in MMA. Adesanya knocked out Pereira in their last fight, but the rivalry may not be over yet.
Pereira’s Astonishing Achievement
Alex Pereira has 11 MMA fights to his name. Despite this, he is now already a two-weight world champion in the sport. Since signing with the UFC two years ago, he has won the UFC middleweight title, and is now the light heavyweight champion after finishing Procházka in the second round of their main event in New York.
The 36-year-old started the fight well, landing heavy low kicks on his opponent which compromised his movement. Procházka managed to secure a takedown and hit Pereira with some nasty elbows before Pereira got back to his feet with only seconds remaining in the round.
In round two, Procházka began to find some success on the feet and backed Pereira up towards the cage with multiple strikes. Pereira saw an opening and landed a perfectly timed counter left hook that dropped his opponent to his knees. Procházka attempted to grab the legs of Pereira and take him down, but ‘Poatan’ was merciless in his response and smashed Procházka with a barrage of elbows to the side of the head. Procházka went down and as Pereira landed in mount position, referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight.
His achievement will go down as one of the most remarkable in the UFC’s history, but will it be enough for Adesanya to take the bait and return sooner than planned?
What do you make of Israel Adesanya’s response to Pereira’s callout? Let us know in the comments.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
