Alex Pereira has insisted he is still a better fighter than Israel Adesanya despite being knocked out by his rival in their rematch.
Adesanya won back his UFC middleweight title with a second-round knockout against Pereira in Miami earlier this month. It was Adesanya's first win against Pereira in four fights having previously lost twice to the Brazilian in kickboxing and once in MMA. Pereira plans to move up to light-heavyweight for his next fight, but that didn't stop him reminding Adesanya about the results of their previous meetings.
“We are the best,” Pereira tweeted, accompanied by clips of his past fights against Adesanya. “But I’m still better. Numbers don’t lie. 3:1.” Pereira won a controversial decision against Adesanya in the kickboxing ring in 2016 and knocked him out in their rematch the following year. 'Poatan' was losing most of his UFC title clash against Adesanya last November, but pulled off a stunning comeback to win by knockout in the final round.
Despite the scores between the pair now being one apiece in MMA, Adesanya has ruled out a trilogy fight by insisting his rivalry with Pereira is over. 'The Last Stylebender' revealed he tore his knee ligament in training less than two weeks before his UFC 287 rematch against Pereira, crediting "mental toughness and adrenaline" for overcoming the injury.
"I just didn't want to freak out," he said. "I remember the feeling as well, it felt hot. It felt hot, like a burning feeling. This is it just mental toughness and adrenaline. We're fighters man, don't worry, I've been through worse. Three weeks before my UFC debut I did my ankle. It is all part of the story this is meant to happen, you can't change your circumstances but you can change your perspective," he said on his YouTube channel.
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"The comeback of getting from then to the cage, but that was really f***ing bad. Everyone goes into the fight with something, no fighter is ever truly 100 per cent. I know me and I know who I am so I was locked in and I just knew you were going to break me no matter what."
Pereira will have to beat a top-ranked contender at light-heavyweight before challenging for the title as UFC boss Dana White recently told Mirror Fighting and other reporters: "You put him in title contention in that he has to beat somebody to even be considered in title contention. He's got to move up to 205lb and beat a real guy so that's what we're looking at right now, getting him a real guy to fight."
