UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira thinks Israel Adesanya will do everything he can to avoid a fight with Alex Pereira in the Octagon.
Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, will defend his title against Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner. He’s coming off of recent successful title defenses over Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker.
The UFC signed a former foe of Adesanya’s in Pereira, who joined the promotion after multiple titles in kickboxing. He is the only fighter to knock out Adesanya in any discipline and holds two wins against him in the kickboxing ring.
During his UFC 275 pre-fight media day, Teixeira spoke about Pereira’s future in the UFC and why he feels a potential UFC fight between him and Adesanya is unlikely.
“I mean you think about it, Adesanya fought him with kickboxing gloves, and he knew how hard he hit. And with these MMA gloves, who knows? I don’t know if he’s gonna take that fight that easily,” Teixeira said of Adesanya.
“I think he’s going to have a conversation with Dana White trying to get away from that fight. When you lose to a guy two times, and he knows how dangerous he is and how hard he hits…look at Adesanya vs. Blachowicz. His best chance to beat Pereira is standup, and he already lost two times. It’s going to be tough for him to fight Alex.”
This isn’t the first time that Teixeira has ripped Adesanya’s chances in a UFC fight with Pereira. Last September, he accused Adesanya of being scared of Pereira and called Pereira his “daddy”.
Pereira will face Sean Strickland at UFC 277 in a potential No. 1 contender fight. A win over Strickland could guarantee a third fight with Adesanya coming to fruition.
Do you think we’ll ever see Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira compete in the UFC Octagon?
Continue Reading Teixeira Explains Why Israel Adesanya Would Turn Down Alex Pereira at MMA News.