Alex Pereira personally stopped his son mocking Israel Adesanya again after his previous KO win at UFC 281.
Pereira and Adesanya have enjoyed heated rivalry having now fought on four occasions including twice in kickboxing and now twice in the UFC. Most recently, the Nigerian won back his UFC middleweight title from 'Poatan' with a brutal second-round KO win which will likely put an end to their rivalry.
One of many things that has stoked up an already-heated rivalry was the actions of Pereira's son at his father's kickboxing KO win in 2017 where he mocked 'The Last Stylebender', by emulating him crumbling to the canvas. In Adesanya's first win over the Brazilian at the weekend, Adesanya found the ex-champion's son and copied his infamous action by falling to the floor.
Following his defeat at the weekend, new footage has surfaced showing Pereira suggesting that he personally prevented his son from acting in spite again at his maiden UFC win over Adesanya last year. He said: “I knocked him out the night I won the belt and my kid was wanting to do the same thing up there.
"I said, ‘no, stop. Don’t do it. Stay here and don’t do anything’. I’m a conscious guy and everything I’m saying here, I’m really saying. I wouldn’t do it. If he did it, and he felt better that way, it’s a relief, and it won’t change anything for me."
Adesanya immediately found Pereira's son in the crowd and got his own back which received a mixed reception from UFC fans following the conclusion of a bitter rivalry. However the ex-champion, Pereira, was left bemused by the antics despite suggesting the pair bury the hatchet and focus on new rivalries.
What did you make of Israel Adesanya's gesture after his KO win? Let us know in the comments section below
He later added: “Honestly, I wouldn’t do the same. I can play with him like I’ve always played. I’ve teased him, but I don’t know, he’s another child. I don’t know what his feelings were. He was enduring this for seven years and I saw his joy after the knockout. That was his dream. That was his dream and he made it, but we’re comparing him with a child who was 5 years old at the time, right?
“I don’t have that mind. I can prove it because today he’s 12 years old and before the fight I saw that he was being influenced by other people, sometimes he even participated in some interviews and some reporters asked [my son], ‘Are you going to do this again?’ and he laughed. He’s a kid and he thinks it’s funny."
Adesanya and Pereira were both quick to downplay an immediate UFC trilogy bout, with the returning champion now instead likely to take a break. However when his stint as champion resumes, he is likely to receive a whole host of fresh challenges to the throne including from Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev.
