UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira is currently in preparation for his rematch, or quadrilogy, whichever way you look at it, against former champion Israel Adesanya early next month at UFC 287.
Pereira recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, showcasing his fight camp, and a small idea of what he’s been working on. When asked about how his weekend went, the Brazilian responded with the following:
“I was resting good this weekend because my week was hard. I had two very hard sparring (sessions) so it was important to rest. Now (I’m) starting the week with boxing training, a lot of movement, that’s it.”
The video showcases him training boxing, as well as some ground and pound with his teammate, former UFC light-heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira, a 2nd-degree BJJ black belt who’s been helping him work on his grappling since 2020.
Going into his UFC middleweight title shot against longstanding champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 281, Pereira only had a professional record of 6-1, and the result showed him become the most inexperienced UFC champion we’ve seen in a long time.
Even Chris Weidman had nine fights when he first defeated Anderson Silva, Holly Holm had nine when she beat Ronda Rousey, TJ Dillashaw had 11 when he beat Renan Barao the first time.
Pereira did the unthinkable with just seven pro bouts at the time, though he had defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing prior to their MMA careers.
In their first affair, Pereira was awarded the unanimous decision victory, though many believed Adesanya won the fight, and Adesanya was winning their second fight up until he got KO’d stiff in round three.
Pereira was down on the cards 3-1 going into the fifth round of their UFC title fight last November, and he was sniper-like enough when it mattered to hurt Adesanya badly in the fifth and final round, where he continued to crack Adesanya with vicious punches until the referee stopped the fight via TKO.
Now we get to see them go at it again for a fourth time, where Pereira aims to make the first defense of his newly claimed title in their immediate rematch at UFC 287.
Does Alex Pereira do it again and make it to 4-0 in his series with Israel Adesanya?
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