Israel Adesanya has claimed that one off-handed comment ‘created a monster’ in the UFC’s most frightening champion.
Back in 2018, Adesanya mocked his old kickboxing rival Alex Pereira, who at the time was beginning to forge a path in MMA. Twice in their ring days the Brazilian had defeated his Nigerian nemesis, including one vicious knockout.
And within years, he was on one of the fastest ascents to UFC gold in recent memory as he dethroned Adesanya for the middleweight title in what was his first ever loss at 185lb in the cage. It led to a rematch in 2023, which saw the former champion return to the summit of the division with a knockout of his own.
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Israel Adesanya mocked Alex Pereira as ‘guy in a bar’ before reigniting rivalry
In the year 2018, Israel Adesanya was one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC and was just a year away from winning the middleweight title. From there, he would go on a record-breaking run with the belt, which would only be stopped by one man.
In the meantime, his old kickboxing rival Pereira was still juggling the two sports, holding a 2-1 professional record in the cage. He had been submitted in his debut, but moved on to win twice when he returned.
Speaking with Sporting News Australia, Adesanya said of Pereira: “He watches all my fights, and every time I fight, like clockwork, he’d try to put something out like, ‘I beat this guy.’
“At the end of the day, no one knows who the f*** he is, and he’s going to be that guy when I’m world champion, when I’m a legend, he’s going to be at some pub talking s*** about, ‘I beat that guy one time.’”
Israel Adesanya claims he motivated Alex Pereira to become UFC legend
The belief is that the interview pushed Pereira to make his move into the UFC octagon. He sprinted through contention into a world title fight, and has since moved up to light-heavyweight where he has wiped out the division in next to no time.
And Adesanya believes he is the man who made the double champion make the big push, telling fans on YouTube that he doesn’t feel bad about making the comment regarding a guy in a pub. “I don’t regret it because I was right,” he explained.
“Also I don’t because it motivated him. I love this f***ing story, eh? It’s just the best. He’s actually at a bar drinking, and he’s like ‘ohh Chama’, he was already an MMA fighter but he decides to take it seriously. Then he gets to the UFC to fight me and chase me.
“So I don’t regret it, no. I’m glad I did because it motivated him and look what we’ve created. I created a monster.”
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