Alex Pereira’s incredible UFC career was inspired by his greatest rival’s scathing predictions.
In one of the greatest performances of his career, Pereira stopped Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 320 on Saturday night.
There were a lot of questions and doubts hanging over ‘Poatan’ after the way that his first clash with the Russian played out earlier this year.
In reclaiming his light heavyweight title, the Brazilian star answered a lot of them by proving that he’s still one of the very best.
Pereira’s win also saw him achieve a feat that only two other fighters have reached, but the MMA landscape could have been very different if it wasn’t for one specific interview.
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Alex Pereira was inspired to achieve greatness in the UFC by Israel Adesanya’s scathing remarks five years ago
As seen when Alex Pereira congratulated Israel Adesanya earlier this year, the two men currently appear to be on very good terms with one another.
However, this wasn’t always the case, with their feud helping to inspire ‘Poatan’ to produce one of the greatest runs in UFC history.
Before Adesanya and Pereira’s rivalry arrived in the UFC, ‘The Last Stylebender’ downplayed his former kickboxing opponent’s credibility and potential.
Adesanya, who was the UFC middleweight champion at the time, slammed the Brazilian in a 2020 interview with Sporting News Australia.
“I’ve never ever watched any of his fights, ever. So, 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 a world champion, when I’m a legend, he is going to be at some pub talking some s— about, ‘I beat that guy one time.'”
Later that year, Pereira returned to MMA after a four-year hiatus and produced the win that would see him join the UFC the following year.
In his post-fight interview at UFC 295 in 2023 after winning the vacant light heavyweight title, ‘Poatan’ called out his former foe while crediting him, as Adesanya puts it, for “creating a monster”.
“I’m not the type of guy to call people out but there’s a guy that back in the day [who] did some interviews and said I was a guy who was just going to stay in the bar,” Pereira said. “That motivated me. He rescued me from a bar to be here today.”
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Alex Pereira referenced similar motivations ahead of his destructive UFC 320 win
Ahead of their UFC 320 rematch, Magomed Ankalaev made some similar remarks about Alex Pereira and the future of his legacy and career.
Anyone familiar with the Brazilian’s story will know that he previously worked at a tire shop before deciding to try and turn his life around.
Pereira, who referenced the tire shop during UFC 320 fight week, explained why he made these comments in response to Ankalaev’s insults.
“I wanted to remind myself of that,” Pereira reflected. “I wanted me to remember that moment and kind of put that responsibility on me of not wanting to go back to the tire shop because a lot of people ask, ‘How’d you make it from the tire shop to being a world champion?’ It’s what I’ve told myself all along, that I wasn’t going to go back to that so I wanted to remember that.”
Pereira then added that he will be going back to the tire shop in Brazil, but he’ll be bringing the light heavyweight gold with him.