Alex Pereira, one of the most devastating kickboxers in the world, recently made his UFC debut. Pereira met Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268 and won via knockout in the second round. The Brazilian landed a brutal flying knee, which immediately sent his opponent to the ground.

Pereira had a lot of hype behind him while making his debut. People were raving about his knockout power, and he did not disappoint. One person really interested in his debut was the UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. The two men have met twice before, with Pereira winning both fights. ‘Poatan’ is the only man to hold a knockout victory over Adesanya, and people are interested in seeing them fight again.

Reacting to his win over Michailidis, Adesanya said it was good to have a new challenger in the division. According to him, “We talked about this two days ago. We need something new, especially after you lap the division again… Good job Pereira, that was nice. I mean, one thing I notice is everyone always holds on to that win he has over me like it’s the be-all-end-all. “

“I hope he does well. In the next four fights, I hope to see him. They’ll show you the knockout, but they won’t show you what happened before the finish. I hurt him, but I only throw (hands) because I was infiltrated by other people’s thoughts. But that was when I was younger. Not anymore. It’s different now. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he added.

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira on a collision course?

‘The Last Stylebender‘ has proven himself to be a worthy champion. He is currently 21-1 in his MMA career and has defended his middleweight title three times. He has beaten all the prime contenders in his division, and even tried to capture the UFC light heavyweight title. That fight, unfortunately for him, ended in a loss. However, he is the undisputed king of his division.

However, Pereira entering the UFC brings excitement. He is the only man to ever knockout Adesanya and has two wins over him. Despite having fought only five times as a mixed martial artist, people already want to see him fight for the title. But the last fight between the two happened way back in 2017. Since then, Adesanya has grown a lot as a fighter and has fought some of the biggest names in MMA.

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Many believe ‘Poatan’ can challenge Adesanya, but he still has to fight some more before he can challenge for the title. The champion is rumored to fight Robert Whittaker next in February, but nothing is official yet. It will be interesting to see if their paths ever meet in the UFC and if Pereira can capitalize on his hype.

What do you think of the matchup? Do you think Alex Pereira has the skills to beat Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments!