Alex Pereira (7-2 MMA) has returned to his relentless social media ‘trolling’ towards rival Israel Adesanya (24-2 MMA) by visiting the UFC middleweight champion’s rival rugby league team during his trip to Australia.
The Brazilian is gearing up for his highly anticipated light heavyweight debut, against former champion, Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA) at UFC 291 on July 29th.
Pereira’s decision to move up to the 205lbs division was made following his knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, as ‘Poatan’ was unable to defend his new championship.
The loss and the manor in the way it happened, would’ve undoubtably been a tough one to swallow for the 35-year-old.
However, ahead of his fight against Blachowicz, Alex Pereira cannot afford to be distracted by his rivalry with Adesanya and ultimately overlook the tricky Polish puzzle that lies in front of him.
Alex Pereira visits Israel Adesanya rival rugby team
As Pereira prepares for his return to the Octagon against Jan Blachowicz, during his trip to Australia he couldn’t help but poke some fun at Adesanya.
This time Alex Pereira, decided to visit the Melbourne Storm who are the rival rugby league team in the NRL to Israel Adesanya’s New Zeeland Warriors.
The team were greeted by Pereira’s stable ring walk, before firing the imaginary arrow which received a good reaction from the Melbourne Storm players.
As the countdown to UFC 291 continues to tick away, fans are anticipating an exciting action-packed fight between Alex Pereira and Jan Blachowicz.
Although the fight is compelling enough on its own merit, the matchup between the pair has bragging rights attached due to Pereira rivalry with ‘The Last Stylebender’.
Blachowicz was the same guy to welcome Adesanya to the 205lbs division at UFC 259, furthermore, he is also the only other guy to beat Adesanya in combat sports.
If Pereira were to beat Jan Blachowicz and make a run at the light heavyweight division, it would throw a spanner in the works of the pairs rivalry and their legacy’s will be endlessly compared between MMA fans.
Although some critics might say that Alex Pereira’s obsession of his rivalry with Adesanya could be his downfall in a fight against Blachowicz, you could argue that it adds more incentive for Pereira.