'I want to rescue him': Alex Pereira calls out Israel Adesanya after claiming second UFC title

Just 3 years after making it into the biggest MMA promotion in the world, Alex Pereira has already become a two-time UFC champion of different divisions. The fighter headlined the UFC 295 main event and secured a second-round KO win over the hard-hitting Light-Heavyweight, Jiri Prochazka. He won the fight and became the new UFC Light-heavyweight Champion.

3 things you need to know

• Alex Pereira became the new UFC Light-Heavyweight division
• Pereira defeated Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 295 to claim the title
• This is Pereira's second championship win in UFC

Also Read | UFC 295 Results: Alex Pereira Defeats Jiri Prochazka To Become New Light-Heavyweight King

Alex Pereira's double whammy in UFC

Alex Pereira's emergence to the top is nothing short of phenomenal. He came into the UFC and was straightaway put against the top-tier contenders. He chose the 185lbs division first, where after defeating the foremost middleweights he met the biggest enemy of his career, Israel Adesanya. Having beaten the Last Stylebender before in different realms of the fight world, that too not once but twice, Pereira proved to be the biggest challenger for Adesanya in MMA as well. He was able to pull off what nobody could in the MMA i.e., Knockout Izzy. At UFC 281 he got the win over Adesanya to become the Middleweight champion. His win raised the eyebrows of the fight fans and thereby a rematch was announced for the UFC 287 event. In the fight, Adesanya finally got the better of his nemesis to hold the title again.

Also Read | 'It Is Ridiculous How Much He Has Fought': UFC Expert On Alex Pereira's Former Rival

Challenges Israel Adesanya after winning the UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship

Following that, Pereira parted ways with the division and climbed up to the Light-heavyweight. At the 205-section, he got rid of the former champ in the form of Jan Blachowicz first and then met Jiri Prochazka at the UFC 295 mega-show. Poatan has seemingly become the delivery man of KO to the fighters who have never experienced one. After Adesanya, it is now Jiri, who became his victim.

While he is expected to rule the second heaviest weight division, but it seems the Adesanya chapter is not finished yet. Following the win, he called out Israel Adesanya for the 5th encounter between the two.

“I’m not the type of guy to call people out but there’s a guy that back in the day [who] did some interviews and said I was a guy who was just going to stay in the bar,” Pereira said. “That motivated me. He rescued me from a bar to be here today. This guy said he just wants to come back and fight in 2027. I think he’s a very talented guy. It’s a waste of talent so I want to rescue him too, to come here and fight.
“I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me to and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight. I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy.”

Adesanya, who is on a hiatus from UFC, reacted to the statement instantly and has supposedly given the challenge a pass. Adesanya posted a still that came about at UFC 287, and wrote "Let it goooo".