Alex Pereira receives praise from Israel Adesanya despite UFC Freedom 250 loss
UFC star Israel Adesanya has praised Alex Pereira, his former rival of many years, despite the fact that the Brazilian came up short last weekend.
At UFC Freedom 250, Alex Pereira dared to be great. He went up against Ciryl Gane with the interim UFC heavyweight championship on the line, and in the end, it was the Frenchman who left with the belt – although there are some questions surrounding a few illegal shots thrown by Gane which, at this point, has become a big topic of conversation in his career.
Alas, whichever way you look at it, Alex Pereira couldn’t get the job done in his attempt to become the first three-weight UFC champion in the promotion’s history. What he did do, though, was learn plenty of lessons for whatever he decides to do next.
In a recent reaction video to the event, Israel Adesanya weighed in on Alex Pereira’s pursuit of greatness.
Israel Adesanya praises Alex Pereira
“Ciryl is no slouch, but f*ck,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Dare to be great. He (Pereira) is a one of one. He’s great. You can’t fault him. That jab, I said it was educated. It’s f*cking accurate. Shoutout to Ciryl, he did it.”
“Alex Pereira, he dared to be great,” Adesanya said. “He went for it at a new weight, something that’s never been attempted before, never even been fathomed, and he did it. So, congrats to him, but especially congrats to Gane because he’s the one that shut it down, let him know what heavyweight is about. But still, it’s just good to see people attempt or achieve great things.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
It’s likely that we will never see these two cross paths again in the cage, and with that in mind, it’s nice to think that they have been able to become closer through their rivalry. There is clearly a mutual respect that exists between them, and despite their previous issues, they can still recognize the greatness that both bring to the table.
Now, it’s all about seeing if Pereira is able to bounce back and made himself a real threat again at either light heavyweight or perhaps up at heavyweight.
