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Alex Pereira has a prolific combat sports career that extends across multiple disciplines but there is one opponent that stands above the rest in terms of who his favorite opposition is. The person he referenced is someone that he clashed with twice in the world of kickboxing and the two also split a pair of memorable middleweight title fights inside the UFC cage.
The man in question is 'The Last Stylebender' with Pereira besting Israel Adesanya twice in the purely stand up art (on points and by way of KO) and once in mixed martial arts to claim the UFC's 185-pound crown. In their last clash, Adesanya notched his long-awaited victory over the Brazilian behemoth via knockout to reclaim the UFC middleweight strap.
Appearing on a recent podcast episode of Straight Talk with Mark Bouris, the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion covered several subjects in a live environment where the audience got to participate in the Q&A process. When addressing an audience inquiry about who he enjoyed fighting the most in his career, Pereira said:
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"I would say Israel Adesanya because due to the history that we had. Moments of adversity, moments that I had to overcome. So I would say Israel Adesanya."
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Check out Alex Pereira's comments below (24:53):
Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya bonded at UFC 312
Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya clearly have deep respect for one another across multiple battles with the bond seemingly forging a friendship of sorts. This came across to many who saw the duo sitting in the front row at UFC 312 pleasantly interacting with one another.
On his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Adesanya got into some of the behind-the-scenes antics at that event with his 37-year-old former adversary. With Pereira's coach Plinio Cruz providing interpretations between the two, there were even talks of Adesanya entertaining a visit to Brazil someday.
In the referenced video, the former two-time UFC middleweight champion stated how it was cool to sit with 'Poatan' and Cruz. He said:
"Whoever set that up, good job. It made for good moments. I think he's genuine in his offer to get together and make a connect happen, so we'll make it happen one day."
Check out the video below:
