Israel Adesanya is admitting that Alex Pereira has ‘bragging rights’, but claims he ‘knows something’ Alex doesn’t ahead of UFC 281.
UFC 281 takes place this coming Saturday, November 12, 2022, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The middleweight main event will feature Israel Adesanya (23-1 MMA) vs Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA) in the championship match-up.
It is true that challenger Alex Pereira previously beat the UFC middleweight champion Adesanya twice in kickboxing. But keep in mind, that was kickboxing.
In speaking on ‘The MMA Hour’, Adesanya had this to say about his upcoming fight with the Brazilian:
“It is (business), but it’s personal. This is about me and my legacy. This is about rewriting history. Even though it is history and I never chased this, this is about me rewriting a new path of history and just showing people what I can really do because, again, y’all must’ve forgot. They forget, they always forget. It’s because of this Tik Tok era, the attention span is so quick, they move on so fast.”
“So this is personal. For me, I’ve said less, he can do all the tennis ball videos and f***ing hoverboard things he wants, but for me I’m just like, ‘Cool. You do you.’ He has bragging rights, so let him do that, but when it’s time I know something he doesn’t. I can’t tell you.”
Continuing Israel Adesanya, 33, credits himself for Pereira being where he currently is:
“Without me, he wouldn’t be here. Without me, he would have been exposed a long time ago. Without me – I cleared the way. I cleared the division first of all so there’s not really anyone else to fight. I cleared the way for him to get to the top.”
Concluding, while not revealing his strategy heading into UFC 281, Adesanya said:
“I’m excited for this one for different reasons. I know something you don’t. (About me), f**k him.”
Quotes via MMAFIGHTING
Will you be watching with anticipation this Saturday night? Do you think Alex Pereira can defeat Israel Adesanya and claim the middleweight belt?
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