If Alex Pereira is Batman, Israel Adesanya is the Joker. ‘Izzy’ and ‘Poatan’ have been at each others’ throats since their kickboxing days. The duo have faced each other four times: twice in the UFC and twice in Glory Kickboxing. Pereira has the upper hand, having beaten ‘Izzy’ three times: twice in kickboxing and once in the UFC.

It was Adesanya talking trash about Pereira in an interview that prompted the latter to start his MMA journey, eventually defeating ‘Izzy’ to win the middleweight championship. Pereira was at a low point in his life when he was called out by ‘Stylebender’. And he wanted to return the favor after becoming a two-division champion but was rebuffed by Adesanya, which apparently made the Brazilian mad.

Alex Pereira moves on from Israel Adesanya

Alex Pereira defeated Jiri Prochazka to capture the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden, NY, last month. In his post-fight speech, Pereira called out Adesanya, challenging the latter to move up to light heavyweight and face him for the 205-pound title.

Adesanya, who is on hiatus following his shocking loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 earlier this year, reacted to the champion’s callout on his YouTube channel. ‘Izzy’ laughed at the Brazilian’s challenge and suggested that Pereira “move on” from him.

And that seems not to have gone down well with Pereira, who expressed his displeasure at Adesanya’s comments. The light heavyweight champion said he had wanted to give Adesanya a chance at the title but was dismayed that the Kiwi chose to mock him instead. He declared that he had moved on and that it didn’t matter to him anymore.

“I called him out in the cage after the title win, and I wanted to give him the chance, and I saw he was not giving me any respect for this – he was laughing about it and making some jokes. So for me, it doesn’t matter anymore. I gave him the chance. If he comes up, nice; if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

When is Israel Adesanya coming back?

After his unexpected UFC 293 loss to Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya decided to take a break from the sport and announced he would be going on a hiatus. ‘Izzy’ has been one of the most active champions in UFC history and stated he wanted to rest and heal from the many injuries he had accrued over his combat sports career. The former middleweight champion clarified in an interview he gave in Saudi Arabia that he had not retired and joked he would be returning in 2027.

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However, fans are likely to see him in the Octagon much sooner. Perhaps, and this is pure speculation, we might see him fight as soon as UFC 300 in April next year. Adesanya has spoken about wanting to be part of the card in interviews before the Strickland. Plus, the UFC goes all in, pulling out all the stops for its anniversary cards. And an Adesanya return would be a huge event in and of itself.

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