The UFC light heavyweight division has a new champion now. Former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira won the LHW title at UFC 295 by defeating Jiri Prochazka. Pereira was originally a middleweight fighter and his rivalry with former champ Israel Adesanya is one of the fiercest rivalries in all of MMA. Given his recent exploits, conversations about the rivalry are picking up traction again.

Both fighters have a lot of mutual admiration for each other despite being fierce rivals. The two seemed to have come to amicable terms after UFC 287. However, it seems that Pereira might not be done with Adesanya as he recently called the ‘Stylebender’ out, after securing a win at UFC 295, and the fans are having a field day with that.

Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira – A rivalry that extends beyond the UFC

There is a reason that Alex Pereira called out Israel Adesanya after his UFC 295 win. In the post-fight interview, Pereira said: “Hey Adesanya, come to daddy“. A clip of that has been going viral, which Adesanya shared with a caption that read, “Like a son uttering his first words.“

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya’s rivalry started during their kickboxing days. They faced off twice in kickboxing and Pereira emerged victorious in both meetings. When the pair met in MMA at UFC 281 a few years later, Pereira claimed his third win over the Nigerian-Kiwi. However, at UFC 287, Adesanya evened the score with a KO win. Although 1-1 in MMA, Pereira is still leading their rivalry 3-1 across career meetings.

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Additionally, he has done what Adesanya couldn’t, and in spectacular fashion. Months before Pereira’s UFC debut in 2021, Adesanya fought Jan Blachowicz for the 205 lbs title at UFC 259 and came up short. Pereira, who debuted in November 2021, has achieved both those feats.

He beat Blachowicz in his UFC light heavyweight debut at UFC 291 and has now secured the vacant divisional belt at UFC 295. Meanwhile, Adesanya just lost the title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Evidently, the Brazilian is having a better run of form at the moment, having lost only once in his UFC stint.

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The fans, obviously thrilled by the UFC 295 results and the reignited rivalry, have immediately picked sides. The comment section of the Tweet by Adesanya was riddled with UFC fans sharing their thoughts on this matter.

Fans react to the back-and-forth between rivals Adesanya and Pereira

Who doesn’t want to see ‘Izzy’ take on ‘Poatan’ once again? The fans were excited to see the two going back and forth again. Whether anything comes of it or not is still to be decided, but the fans surely had a lot to say about Adesanya’s tweet and the callout.

One fan seemed excited with the hopes of a rematch at light heavyweight.

One fan decided to play along with the ‘daddy’ comment that Pereira made about Adesanya.

Another fan gave ‘Izzy’ a gentle reminder of the record between the two.

One person seemed to think that ‘Poatan’ was being respectful and ‘Izzy’ was not.

However, most of the comments seemed to be about giving Adesanya a reality check of sorts.

One person decided to take a dig at the ‘Stylebender’ and his ‘Chinese’ origins.

It’s evident that there is unfinished business between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya – even amongst the fans. Will there be a final fight between the two? At UFC light heavyweight perhaps. What would make it more interesting is incentivizing Adesanya with the light heavyweight title, now that Strickland is the middleweight champ. But what about Jan Blachowicz calling out Pereira after UFC 295 win? Will the rematch happen first?

Watch This Story – Alex Pereira reveals why he got ‘stone face’ as his child