Israel Adesanya Questions Alex Pereira's Mindset Ahead of UFC 335
Israel Adesanya voiced confusion over Alex Pereira's upcoming heavyweight bout against Sergei Pavlovich, criticizing his former rival for stating he will return to 205 pounds if he loses.
· VILLAND PICK editorial
Former two-division champion Alex Pereira is preparing for his second bout in the heavyweight division when he faces former title challenger Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ahead of the matchup, Pereira stated on Connect Cast that he intends to move back down to the light heavyweight division if he suffers a defeat against Pavlovich.
That admission did not sit well with his longtime rival Israel Adesanya. Speaking with Demetrious Johnson, Adesanya questioned both the matchup itself and Pereira's mental approach heading into the contest. "I don’t know why he’s taking this fight, it doesn’t make sense to me," Adesanya said.
"I mean, I already saw a clip of Pereira saying if he loses to Pavlovich, he’s going back down to 205. I don’t like the fact he’s putting that out there. What the f*ck do you mean, ‘If I lose?’"
Adesanya and Pereira have competed against each other four times across combat sports, including two high-profile UFC middleweight title fights. Pereira stopped Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281 in November 2022, following two earlier victories over him in kickboxing. Adesanya later avenged the loss by knocking out Pereira at UFC 287 in April 2023. While the two have since developed a friendly relationship, Adesanya believes Pereira needs to return to the focused mindset that previously drove his success.
"All this BS, all this fugazi, just stick to Chama," Adesanya said. "Why not just stay at 205 after this last fight with Ciryl Gane? I thought he was going to go [back] to 205. People didn’t say shit about weight-cutting until I knocked him out."
Sources
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