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Is Israel Adesanya the reason that Alex Pereira no longer fights in the UFC middleweight division?
He sure seems to believe so.
Pereira takes on Jiri Prochazka on Saturday at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden for the vacant light heavyweight championship.
It’s the Brazilian’s second fight at 205 pounds after beginning his UFC career at 185. He won the middleweight title at UFC 281 in November of 2022 with a TKO over Adesanya.
But Adesanya later won the belt back at UFC 287 in April of 2023 with a knockout of his.
Now Pereira has his sites on a different prize, and Adesanya says he deserves the credit for that.
“These middleweights can get on their f—— knees and thank me ’cause I got this man out of there. If not, you would have to deal with him over and over and over again, all of you,” he said on his YouTube channel. “I doubt any of you would want to f—— fight this guy. I did four times but I got it done just with one.”
Despite his claim, Adesanya believes that Prochazka, not Pereira, walks out with the belt on Saturday night.
“I like this fight because they’re both very unorthodox in their approach, their fighting style,” Adesanya said. “The way Pereira leg kicks, the way Jiri likes to own the space and throw combos. Even like his potshots, the way he moves. His movement is crazy. Like it’s just very unorthodox.
“I’m going with Jiri. No [it doesn’t go the distance]. Five rounds, I don’t think so. Not with this one. Not at light heavyweight. It doesn’t go the distance.”
Adesanya is currently taking time off after losing the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland in September via unanimous decision.
But he’s certainly not letting the world forget about him in the meantime.