Arch-nemesis Israel Adesanya discusses legendary "30 for 30" worthy rivalry with Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya recently discussed his legendary rivalry with Alex Pereira. 'Stylebender' and 'Poatan' had a well-documented rivalry dating back to their Glory Kickboxing tenure and carried it over to MMA by fighting in back-to-back UFC middleweight title fights.

The Brazilian has achieved a great deal of success in a very short period of time and has already cemented a Hall of Fame-caliber MMA career. After being dethroned by 'Poatan', 'Izzy' regained his middleweight championship with a spectacular knockout win in their rematch, which also avenged his previous losses in kickboxing. Adesnaya's win currently holds up very well in that, Pereira has since moved up to 205 pounds, become UFC light heavyweight champion, and successfully defended his title on three occasions.

During his latest appearance on FLAGRANT, 'Izzy' heaped praise on his longtime rival and shared his thoughts on their rivalry. Adesanya mentioned that he believes his rivalry with Pereira could be a perfect fit for ESPN's popular '30 for 30' specials:

"Me and [Pereira] know every time to fight each other it's not an easy fight. And now we've had that rivalry...What did Dana [White] say? 'You could do a '30 for 30' on this [rivalry]'. And you should. Honestly, a '30 for 30' ESPN special on our fu**ing story from kickboxing and then him chasing me...And we should even do an interview afterwards. Sit down and just, 'Chama'." [1:10:35]

Check out the full episode featuring Israel Adesanya below:

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Israel Adesanya explains why he doesn't want to pursue an MMA trilogy bout against Alex Pereira

Despite being 1-1 in the portion of their UFC rivalry, Israel Adesanya explained why he doesn't want to pursue an MMA trilogy bout against Alex Pereira.

Pereira is currently the UFC light heavyweight champion, so 'Izzy' would most likely have to move up to 205 pounds in order to make that a reality. During the aforementioned appearance, Adesanya mentioned that he rather not because there are other matchups that excite him:

"We've had that [rivalry]. If I fight [Pereira] again and knock him out, [fans would say] 'Oh, look it's 3-2 now. Best out of 7'. Who am I fighting for? I only have how much more [time] left in the game. I'm not gonna try and just to entertain people. There's more fights I rather do, more rematches I rather do." [1:11:48]

Check out Israel Adesanya's reaction after his knockout win over Alex Pereira below: