Israel Adesanya has claimed that one excellent remark 'has created a monster' in the most frightening champion of the UFC.
In 2018, Adesanya mocked his old kickboxing rival Alex Pereira, who at the time started to forge a path in MMA. Twice in their ring days, the Brazilian had defeated his Nigerian Nemesis, including a vicious knockout.
And within years he was on one of the fastest climbs to UFC Gold in the recent memory while he de -tone Adesanya for the middleweight title in what his very first loss ever was at 185 pounds in the cage. It led to a rematch in 2023, in which the former champion returned to the top of the division with its own knockout.
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Israël Adesanya mocked Alex Pereira as 'guy in a bar' before he ruled the rivalry
In 2018, Israel Adesanya was one of the fastest rising stars in the UFC and was only a year away from winning the middleweight title. From there he would go on a record -breaking run with the belt, which would only be stopped by one man.
In the meantime, his old kickboxing rival Pereira was still juggling with the two sports, with a 2-1 professional record in the cage. He was submitted in his debut, but started winning twice when he returned.
Speaking with Sporting News Australia, Adesanya said about Pereira: 'He looks at all my fights, and every time I fight, like Clockwork, he would try to put something out like:' I defeated this guy. '
“At the end of the day nobody knows who he is, and he will be that guy when I am a world champion, when I am a legend, he will talk about in a pub ***,” I defeated that guy once. ” '
Israel Adesanya claims that he has motivated Alex Pereira to become UFC legend
The conviction is that the Pereira interview has forced to make his switch to the UFC -Tachthoek. He sprinted through the battle in a world title fight and has since switched to light heavyweight where he has wiped the division away in almost no time.
And Adesanya believes that he is the man who made the double champion the big push and tells fans on YouTube that he doesn't feel bad about making the comment about a man in a pub. “I don't regret it because I was right,” he explained.
Israel Adesanya says he doesn't regret that he “calls Alex Pereira in a bar”
“I don't regret it because I was right … I'm glad I did that because it motivated him.
See what we have made. I made a monster. “
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“I also not because it motivated him. I love this f *** ING Story, isn't it? It's just the best. He is actually on a bar, and he is like 'Ohh Chama', he was already an MMA hunter, but he decides to take it seriously. Then he comes to the UFC to fight and chase against me.
“So I don't regret it, no. I am happy that I did that because it has motivated him and see what we have created. I made a monster. “
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