Alex Pereira unsure on UFC trilogy fight with Israel Adesanya next: ‘I wanted to give him the chance’
Undisputed light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira has claimed he’s not waiting on a potential trilogy rubber match against two-time Octagon foe, Israel Adesanya following a call out to the City Kickboxing staple after UFC 295 last month, claiming he has given the ex-champion the chance to secure a third fight against him.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight titleholder, headlined UFC 295 back in November at Madison Square Garden, landing the light heavyweight title in a spectacular second round win over former champion, Jiri Prochazka in the pair’s vacant championship showing.
As for Adesanya, the Nigerian-Kiwi striker headlined UFC 293 back in September most recently, dropping the middleweight title in a shocking upset loss to common-foe, Sean Strickland – becoming the first champion in Octagon history to suffer a title loss twice in the same year.
Alex Pereira unsure on title fight with Israel Adesanya next
And planning a sidelined until 2027 at the very earliest, Adesanya was the subject of a call out from Pereira following his 205 pound title ascension back in November, which the Brazilian has now reneged on due to a lack of interest from the former middleweight king.
“It doesn’t matter for me,” Alex Pereira told Ares FC during a recent appearance at an event. “I called him (Israel Adesanya) out in the cage after the title win, and I wanted to give him the chance, and I saw he did not give me any respect for this – he was laughing about it and making some jokes.”
“So for me, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Alex Pereira explained. “I gave him the chance. If he comes up, nice; if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter.”
Prior to Pereira’s interview with the French promotion, the Sao Paulo knockout artist had been linked to a headlining clash against Adesanya at UFC 300 in April of next year.
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