Alex Pereira has been part of some legendary fights during his relatively short tenure in the UFC so far.
This coming Saturday, the premier promotion returns to Las Vegas for UFC 320, headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira.
The two first met earlier this year at UFC 313 when Ankalaev scored the huge upset win over the Brazilian, dominating him on the feet for five rounds.
And despite there seemingly having been a mutual respect between the two, ahead of their rematch, their rivalry has increased and the two almost clashed in an awkward meeting at the UFC PI.
Pereira details his favorite UFC fight and explains why it’s different to Ankalaev rematch
In what has been a relatively short three year tenure so far in the UFC, ‘Poatan’ has already been involved in some classic fights and some historic rivalries.
However, none of them stand out more than his rivalry with Israel Adesanya, which is one of the most legendary rivalries in combat sports history.
When Pereira joined the UFC in 2022, he came into the promotion with an already long history with the then middleweight champion, Adesanya.
And after just a few wins, he earned himself a shot against ‘The Last Stylebender’, which was their third clash against each other, including their kickboxing fights.
The Brazilian went on to score a legendary win, knocking Adesanya out in the fifth round, after being beaten in the previous rounds.
And ahead of his rematch against Ankalaev, Pereira has explained why that’s his favorite fight and why that rivalry differs to his rivalry with the Russian.
“Nothing compares to that win over Adesanya,” Pereira told the media at a pre-fight UFC 320 scrum.
“With the whole history in kickboxing, everything that I went through and a lot of people sometimes think to promote a fight you just have to say a lot of things and have this animosity, that’s not what it is.
“You’ve got to have that history and that background so (Ankalaev) is doing it all wrong,” Pereira continued.
Pereira still considering a move up to heavyweight
One of the reasons why Pereira’s rivalry with Adesanya was so huge was because of the fact that both fighters were widely regarded as stars of the sport.
That is not a title Ankalaev is afforded with. In fact, former UFC heavyweight has claimed that Ankalaev is ‘hurting the UFC’ by being the champion.
During his time as the 205lb champion, Pereira consistently teased a potential move up to the heavyweight division, and ahead of his fight at UFC 320, he has continued to claim that a future move up is almost inevitable.