Kamaru Usman to Israel Adesanya: ‘It’s not fair’ if you don’t fight Alex Pereira again

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira have one of the most legendary rivalries in combat sports history. Former UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman believes that rivalry needs to continue.

Adesanya and Pereira began their rivalry in the kickboxing ring. They first met under the Glory of Heroes banner in Shenzhen, China in 2016. Brazil’s Pereira won that first encounter, defeating the Nigerian-born Kiwi Adesanya by unanimous decision.

The following year, the two rivals met again, once again under the Glory of Heroes banner. That time it was in Pereira’s home country of Brazil. The second time around, the Brazilian won in even more decisive fashion, scoring a brutal knockout win over Adesanya despite losing most of the fight to that point.

By that time, Adesanya had already been dabbling in MMA, and the following year, he signed with the UFC. After five-straight wins to start his Octagon career, he defeated Kelvin Gastelum to claim the promotion’s interim middleweight title, then Robert Whittaker to claim the undisputed belt. He then defended the belt six-straight times against elite contenders.

Adesanya finally lost the middleweight title in 2022, suffering a KO loss to none other than Pereira. The Brazilian was only 3-0 in the UFC up to that point, but was granted a crack at the champ on account of his victories in their kickboxing matches. After losing his UFC belt to Pereira, Adesanya was granted an immediate rematch, at which point he finally got a win over the Brazilian with a knockout of his own.

Today, Adesanya is riding a three-fight skid at middleweight, while Pereira has moved up to light heavyweight, where he recently lost the divisional title to Magomed Ankalaev.

Kamaru Usman explains why Israel Adesanya needs to give Alex Pereira a third UFC fight

By now, most fans consider the pair’s rivalry over. However, Adesanya’s long-time friend and fellow Nigerian Usman recently encouraged him to pursue a fifth right with Pereira. The reason? It would be unfair to lose three fights to the Brazilian, then finally win one, and not offer the same opportunity for vengeance he was afforded multiple times.

“It’s not fair,” Usman said when Adesanya appeared on his Pound 4 Pound podcast (h/t Sportskeeda). “It’s not fair. You can’t make me play this game four or five times and then when you finally beat me, you’re like, ‘I’m done. I’m done’. That’s why [fans] would be like that.”

Usman makes an interesting point. Still, it’s worth noting that Pereira and Adesanya both seemed to have moved on from their rivalry.

“[Pereira’s] a hard fight,” Adesanya said. “He knows I’m a hard fight. I’m not scared to fight the guy, it’s just it’s a hard fight and whenever I fight him, I know that I’m in for it and he knows the same thing. So I finally got what I needed to get from that saga. If I beat him now, what are [doubters] gonna say? ‘Actually, it’s 3-2’. They’ll make up some new s**t.”

Do you think Adesanya and Pereira should fight one more time?