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Video – Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira share tense face off ahead of UFC 281 title grudge match

Ahead of their UFC middleweight title grudge match later this week at UFC 281, defending champion, Israel Adesanya and division challenger, Alex Pereira shared an as-expected tense face-off after a war-of-words at tonight’s press conference in New York City. Headlining UFC 281 this weekend at Madison Square Garden, Adesanya will attempt to land his sixth […]

Headlining UFC 281 this weekend at Madison Square Garden, Adesanya will attempt to land his sixth successful title defense when paired with Brazilian rival, Pereira – as well as attempting to avenge a pair of kickboxing losses to the latter.

Competing twice back in 2016, and 2017, respectively – Israel Adesanya first dropped a decision loss to Pereira in China in a debated judging loss, before suffering a thunderous knockout defeat to the Brazilian the following year in a rallying performance.

Sharing a tense face-off at today’s presser guided by UFC play-by-play commentator, Adesanya and Pereira traded verbal insults in a reserved manner.

Israel Adesanya attempts to avenge his prior losses to Alex Pereira

Maintaining that prior knowledge of his knockout loss to incoming opponent, Pereira would have no effect on his performance at UFC 281 or thought process ahead of the MSG showdown.

Reminding him of his knockout defeat, Pereira posed a rather confusing question to Adesanya – asking if the Nigerian-Kiwi was even interested in showing up to the event or the pre-fight media obligations.

Taking the stage last for tonight’s pre-fight press conference as the final pairing, Adesanya and Pereira exchanged inaudibles throughout their face-to-face confrontation, before the former motioned that the Sao Paulo native was “talking” with his hand, with the duo then posing for photo opportunities.

Last headlining UFC 276 back in July, Israel Adesanya knocked back the challenge of Jared Cannonier in a forgettable unanimous decision showing.

For Pereira, the streaking contender turned in his championship challenge-earning performance with a first round knockout win over Sean Strickland on the main card of the event during International Fight Week.

UFC 281’s Carlos Ulberg Turned Down Two Appearances On ‘The Bachelor’

UFC light heavyweight Carlos Ulberg has plenty of open doors outside of fighting but is solely focused on his future in the Octagon. Ulberg returns to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 281 against Nicolae Negumereanu. He’s won two-straight enterin…

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Alex Pereira believes his knockout of Israel Adesanya lives rent-free in the champ’s head; ‘It’s still in his mind’

Alex Pereira believes it’ll be one-and-done between himself and Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 on Saturday night. While Pereira and Adesanya have already clashed on two separate occasions under the GLORY Kickboxing banner, the Brazilian challenger believes it’ll only take one fight to end their rivalry inside the Octagon. Speaking through an interpreter at the […]

Alex Pereira believes it’ll be one-and-done between himself and Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 on Saturday night.

While Pereira and Adesanya have already clashed on two separate occasions under the GLORY Kickboxing banner, the Brazilian challenger believes it’ll only take one fight to end their rivalry inside the Octagon. Speaking through an interpreter at the UFC 281 media day, Pereira stated that ‘The Last Stylebender’ will deserve an immediate rematch, but will be far from interested in taking it.

“It makes no difference who they want to put after (to challenge for the belt),” Pereira said. “He deserves it, but after this fight, he isn’t going to want it.”

Of course, that’s contingent on defeating Israel Adesanya at Madison Square Garden this weekend. Given his two victories over ‘Stylebender’ in kickboxing, including a brutal knockout in 2017, Alex Pereira is entering the bout with plenty of confidence. However, Pereira is not going into the contest with any personal animosity lingering from their previous two encounters. As for Adesanya, Pereira has a hard time believing ‘Stylebender’ won’t go into the fight looking to erase the mistakes of his past.

“No (it’s not personal), not for me,” Pereira said. “I will do my work and job like I would if I was fighting anyone else. I just focus on fighting for the title. …. I don’t know how he would possibly be over that (knockout). It’s still in his mind.”

Alex Pereira Believes Anything Can Happen in UFC 281 Main Event

When the two warriors clash in Saturday’s headliner, fans anticipate the two will continue right where they left off in 2017, engaging in a heavy-hitting kickboxing battle. Alex Pereira suggests that if Adesanya attempts to wrestle, it will be an act of desperation rather than a strategic choice.

“Anything can happen – many possibilities,” Pereira said. “Maybe Israel can go and try to take me down. If that happens, it’s going to be more of desperation instead of strategy.”

Despite his two victories over Adesanya and his undefeated UFC run thus far, Alex Pereira will step into the Octagon for his first main event as an underdog. Pereira is currently listed as a +160 underdog versus Adesanya’s -190. While ‘The Last Stylebender’ has secured wins over top-level talent like Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Jared Cannonier, a win against Pereira would arguably be the biggest of his mixed martial arts career.

UFC 281 Predictions: Expert Picks By MMA News Staff

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira is now days away, and MMA News is here to continue getting you prepared for the event with our expert staff predictions! Two title fights will headline the UFC 281 pay-per-view, with Israel Adesanya defending his midd…

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Video – Alex Pereira’s son mocks Israel Adesanya with collapse celebration following father’s KO win

Ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster undisputed middleweight title fight between UFC champion, Israel Adesanya and his kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in New York City – footage has resurfaced showing the latter’s son mocking Adesanya’s KO loss against his father under the GLORY Kickboxing banner back in 2017. Attempting to secure his sixth […]

Attempting to secure his sixth title knockback at UFC 281 this weekend in Madison Square Garden, Adesanya meets the 6-1 mixed martial artist, Pereira – who holds two victories over the former during their respective kickboxing careers.

Nabbing a dubious decision win over City Kickboxing ace, Adesanya back in 2016, Pereira would then find himself rallying in a rematch the following year in his native Brazil – stopping Adesanya with a brutal left hook KO. The knockout came as the first and still only knockout defeat of the middleweight champion’s combat sports career.

Israel Adesanya questions how he should have dealt with Alex Pereira’s trolling son

With the Nigerian-Kiwi’s title defense against Sao Paulo striker, Pereira fraught with promotion of their distinct rivalry, footage has reemerged detailing Pereira’s young son celebrating his father’s 2017 win over Israel Adesanya – by recreating the finish, acting as Adesanya and collapsing to the ring canvas.

Sharing his thoughts on Pereira’s son mocking is knockout loss, Adesanya questioned how he should have reacted to the troll attempt, apart from simply laughing.

“I think so, yeah,” Israel Adesanya replied when asked if Alex Pereira’s son mocked him back in 2017 during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “I remember it, but I kinda looked at him and laughed. He did it multiple times but I just looked at him and laughed. What am I going to do, stomp his head? It doesn’t bother me if he’s there [at UFC 281] – I hope he’s older now.”

Earning his middleweight title fight just three outings deep into his Octagon tenure, Pereira turned in a stunning first round knockout win over Sean Strickland at UFC 276 back in July during International Fight Week.

Firas Zahabi questions the cause behind Israel Adesanya’s ‘strange’ and ‘very suspicious’ gyno ahead of UFC 281

Ahead of his upcoming Octagon return this weekend in an undisputed UFC middleweight title fight against Brazilian challenger, Alex Pereira at UFC 281, undisputed champion, Israel Adesanya has been the subject of questioning from Tristar MMA head coach, Firas Zahabi – with the latter questioning the reasoning behind Adesanya’s well-documented issue with gynecomastia. Taking main […]

Taking main event honors at Madison Square Garden, Adesanya will attempt to earn his sixth successful defense of the undisputed middleweight title – as he draws prior kickboxing rival and former two-weight GLORY champion, Pereira.

Twice clashing with the Sao Paulo striker during their respective kickboxing careers, Israel Adesanya suffered a pair of losses to the former, including a thunderous, high-profile knockout loss to Pereira in a rematch in his native Brazil.

However, another subject which has constantly surrounded Israel Adesanya’s promotional tenure, is the supposed case of gynecomastia – most notable in his October 2020 fight against middleweight contender, Paulo Costa.

Firas Zahabi speculates the cause of Israel Adesanya’s gynecomastia

Weighing up the reasoning regarding Adesanya’s condition, the aforenoted, Zahabi failed to land on a definite factor, however, claimed the case was “very suspicious” to him.

“Guys, I find it incredibly strange,” Firas Zahabi said. “Like, for me, I’ve only ever seen – get’s get punched in the chest all the time, I’ve never seen a guy walk in a ring, walk out with an inflamed breast.”

“In my mind, there’s only one reason for this,” Zahabi explained. “There’s only one group that has this problem, there’s only one group. What other possibility could there be? People are putting pictures of him in his earlier years, he doesn’t have it, doesn’t have it, then all of a sudden, boom, he’s got it. And for me, I have no explanation guys. I have no idea. It’s very suspicious. Very suspicious to me.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)