Alex Pereira has become the ninth fighter in UFC history to become a two-division champion and the fastest to achieve this feat. He accomplished this in just his seventh fight, surpassing Randy Couture’s record of nine fights. Pereira was recently inducted into the Glory Hall of Fame (Kickboxing) and is on his way to being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame once he retires. This week, he climbed to the fifth spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Someone with Pereira’s pedigree quickly rose through the ranks in the UFC, leading to the fight for which he was destined from the moment he was signed – a bout against Israel Adesanya, who was undefeated in the middleweight division at the time. In Glory, the Brazilian had defeated “The Last Stylebender” twice, the last time by knockout, so there was unfinished business between them. Pereira knocked out Adesanya and took the middleweight title from the Nigerian, but in the rematch, the story unfolded in reverse.
Pereira’s career continued in the light heavyweight division, and after defeating Jan Błachowicz and Jiří Procházka at UFC 295, he had a message for his great rival. Adesanya had been arrested in Auckland, New Zealand, on August 19 for driving under the influence of alcohol and didn’t look very sharp in his fight against Sean Strickland on September 10. As a result, he decided to take a long break in his career.
During his post-fight interview, Pereira wanted to return the “favor” to Adesanya, who had publicly encouraged him in his own unique way to stay away from alcohol in 2020. “He will be the kind of guy who, when I’m a world champion, when I’m a legend, will be in a pub talking shit like, ‘I beat him once,'” said the African fighter.
After UFC 295, Pereira resumed his love story with Adesanya, saying, “He said that I would be that guy in the bars talking. That motivated me and rescued me from the bars to be here today, so I want to rescue him so he can come here and fight. Come with daddy.” The Brazilian’s message was clear, and his only goal is to prevent ‘The Last Stylebender’ from wasting his talent. Two noble champions.
