Adesanya criticises Pereira: You don't talk about losing to Pavlovich
The former UFC middleweight champion doesn't understand why his old rival is moving to heavyweight – and is bothered by Pereira's talk of a possible defeat.
Archive image · Photo: MMMAnytt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Israel Adesanya has criticised his long-time rival Alex Pereira ahead of his heavyweight fight with Sergei Pavlovich. Speaking on a podcast with Demetrious Johnson, he said, according to Cageside Press: “I don't know why he's taking this fight, it doesn't make sense to me.” Pereira and Pavlovich meet on 12 December at UFC 335 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Adesanya referred to a clip in which, by his account, Pereira said he would return to light heavyweight if he loses to Pavlovich. “I don't like the fact he's putting that out there,” Adesanya said, asking what Pereira meant by “if I lose”. Pereira's own words are not quoted in the report.
Pereira's earlier move up to light heavyweight, by contrast, made sense to Adesanya: “He's a big dude for 185,” he said. The two share a long rivalry; they last met in April 2023 at UFC 287, where Adesanya knocked Pereira out.