Fighters usually don’t take kindly to people messing with their kids, but Pereira refuses to get angry about Adesanya’s viral taunt of his child.
Out of all the wild moments that came out of UFC 287 this past weekend in Miami, Fla., the one that went really viral was Israel Adesanya mocking Alex Pereira’s kid after knocking out his father (watch it).
“I remember the first time [Pereira] knocked me out in Brazil, his son came into the ring and then started to lie dead next to me,” Adesanya explained after the win. “And I’m like, ‘you f—ing little asshole. I’ll whoop your ass if your dad don’t do it for you.’ So then, yeah, I looked for his kid, and I pointed at him, and I saw him, and I was like, ‘hey, hey, hey’ [motions like he fell] just to remind him.”
Now, Pereira is addressing the moment in a new video interview. Honestly, he seems pretty chill about it. But then again, “Poatan” never really emotes too much, so maybe there’s a roiling sea of rage under that calm demeanor.
“I don’t know if I wouldn’t do the same,” Pereira said simply. “I can play with him, I’ve always played with him and tease him. It’s something that happened but he … I don’t know … it’s another child. I don’t know what his feeling was, it was seven years ago. He was enduring it, and I saw his joy that he had after the knockout, you know? Because that was his dream, and he made it.
“But we’re comparing him with a child that was five years old at the time, right?” he continued. “I don’t have that mind. Today, he is 12 years old and before the fight I saw that he was being influenced by other people, right? Sometimes even participating in some interviews and some saying, ‘You’re going to do this?’ ‘I’m going to do it again,’ and so on, and he laughed because he’s a kid.”
Pereira admits he got a kick out of the moment where his son mocked Adesanya.
“I think it’s funny,” he said. “I did that, I knocked him out the night I won the belt and my kid wanted to do the same thing up there. I said to him ‘No, stop, doin’t do it. Stay here and don’t do anything.’ I’m a conscious guy and everything, I’m saying I wouldn’t do it. But if [Adesanya] did it and felt better after doing it, okay, it’s a relief if he thinks it’s better for him. That won’t change anything for me.”
Pereira made it clear that the loss (watch highlights) is just a small stumble in his overall career.
“All the people who are following me since kickboxing, they know I am a hard worker and dedicated,” he declared. “I never quit. And for the people who arrived now, it’s a new phase: MMA, UFC. You can wonder ‘How will this guy come back?’ Guys, I promise you, I’m going to come firm and strong. I’m going to come stronger than ever. You can write this down!”
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