Israel Adesanya has told Alex Pereira he taught his son manners by mocking him after their UFC 287 rematch.
Adesanya, 33, reclaimed his UFC middleweight title by brutally knocking out Pereira earlier this month. It marked the fourth time the rivals had fought in all disciplines, with Adesanya finally getting a win against 'Poatan' after previously going 0-3 against him. Just moments after knocking out Pereira, 'The Last Stylebender' mocked his rival's son by imitating his dad falling to the floor.
It was the same gesture Pereira's son did in front of Adesanya after he was knocked out in their 2017 kickboxing fight. Adesanya has now explained his thought process behind targeting Pereira's son, stating on his YouTube channel: "I was just like, 'Where is he? I'm going to find him.' I see his kid then his sister, I think, was holding them.
"She was holding them because they were crying. So I was just like, bang. 'He's only a kid...' I'm like, 'And the f*** what?' If I had a son and he came to the cage after 287 and then start to do that next to Pereira, I'd be like, 'What the f*** are you doing? Come here.. Apologise to that man.'"
Pereira's son was just five years old when he mocked Adesanya but 'Poatan' has since admitted that he understands why his rival wanted payback for the gesture. Adesanya also took offence to Pereira watching back the clip on YouTube during a UFC 281 embedded episode before they fought last November.
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"Guy knocked me out in his home country and then you see your kid doing that and you don't have the discipline to scold him and then again before 281, you're in your car and you're like, 'Look what my son did.' If you're not going to teach your kids manners and respect, I will. I did him a favour. I did that kid a favour. Now he has a life lesson that he can hold on to forever and just remember that. I'm glad I did it. F*** them kids," he added.
Pereira has revealed his plans to fight at light-heavyweight following his UFC title loss to Adesanya, who is targeting a fight against Dricus Du Plessis next. The South African recently angered Adesanya, who was born in Nigeria but resides in New Zealand, by declaring himself as "the African fighter" in the UFC.
