Following the announcement of his impending middleweight championship rematch with fierce-rival, Alex Pereira at UFC 287, former division kingpin, Israel Adesanya maintains that he will settle the score with the Brazilian – whom now holds three career wins over him.
Adesanya, a former undisputed middleweight champion and current #1 ranked division challenger, is set to headline UFC 287 on April 8. against Brazilian striker, Pereira, rematching for the undisputed 185lbs championship.
First meeting in professional mixed martial arts back in November of last year – reigniting their prior kickboxing rivalry, Israel Adesanya suffered a fifth round standing TKO loss to Pereira at UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden, marking the end of his title reign over the division.
Israel Adesanya previews his April re-run with Alex Pereira at UFC 287
Slated to headline UFC 287 in April against Pereira, Adesanya shared a promotional video on his official Instagram account ahead of the bout with the former duel-weight GLORY Kickboxing kingpin, stylized in the theme of horror movie franchise, Saw.
“In this game, we don’t keep score, we settle them,” Israel Adesanya posted on Instagram accompanied by a promotional video.
In this game, we don’t keep score…we settle them. #insertcointocontinue #UFC287 #wegoagainpic.twitter.com/eyDrE3gdht
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) January 28, 2023
Suffering his first professional loss at the middleweight limit in his professional mixed martial arts career, Adesanya had landed a prior five successful defenses during his time atop the middleweight pile.
Unifying the division championships with a 2019 knockout win over Robert Whittaker, City Kickboxing star, Adesanya defeated Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Whittaker again, and most recently, Jared Cannonier during his time as undisputed champion.
Attempting to land a fourth combat sports career win over Nigerian-Kiwi slickster, Adesanya, Pereira would land just his fifth Octagon victory with a win in April – having previously bested Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, and Strickland before his above-mentioned November championship triumph.
Along with a middleweight title rematch at UFC 287, the pay-per-view event is also set to host a high-stakes welterweight pairing between former division title challengers, Gilbert Burns, and the returning, Jorge Masvidal over the course of three rounds.