Israel Adesanya eulogizes longtime rival Alex Pereira

UFC champion Israel Adesanya has penned a heartfelt message to his longtime rival Alex Pereira.

Adesanya, the middleweight champion of the UFC, posted a heartfelt message on social media addressing his rival, the Brazilian mixed martial artist Alex Pereira.

The two fighters do indeed have a history.

It was back in 2016, where Adesanya and Pereira fought at GLORY of Heroes 1 kickboxing in China, with Pereira securing the unanimous decision win.

GLORY of Heroes 7 kickboxing in Brazil, in 2017, saw a re-match between Pereira and Adesanya where the outcome saw Pereira delivering a devastating shot to the chin that dropped Adesanya, serving him up his 1st knockout defeat.

At UFC 281, the two would meet in the Octagon where it was Pereira who took home a KO/TKO victory dethroning the MMA champion and taking home the middleweight belt.

Then came UFC 287, earlier this month, that saw Adesanya defeat Pereira via KO at 4:21 of round 2 to re-claim the championship title.

Along with the message was a video of ‘The Last Stylebender’ and ‘Poatan’ hugging it out at their UFC 287 rematch.

Taking to ‘Twitter‘, Adesanya wrote:

“I love this game. Nothing compares on this planet, in this life than putting it all on the line. One shot, the whole world watching…waiting…then BOOM!! HISSTORY. Our individual legends will always be intertwined because of the stories we’ve told with our beautiful violence. I’m grateful we have this rivalry, I’m grateful he beat me. It forced me to grow, made me better. Now I have done the same for him, the gift that keeps on giving…ass whoopings. Shoutout to the Warrior from Brazil Alex “Poatan” Pereira!”

Adesanya has vowed to team up with Pereira in Brazil later this year.