Israel Adesanya explains why he is done with fighting Alex Pereira after UFC 287: “I’ve closed that chapter”

Israel Adesanya believes he is done with the Alex Pereira saga.

Adesanya and Pereira mixed it up a second time in MMA, and the fourth time in combat sports at UFC 287. Israel Adesanya was looking to reclaim the UFC Middleweight Championship, which Alex Pereira took from him back in late 2022 thanks to a fifth-round TKO. Adesanya, who was 0-3 against Pereira in combat sports going into the fight, finally got his win over “Poatan” and it was via brutal second-round KO.

Israel Adesanya Shuts Door On Another Alex Pereira Fight

During the UFC 287 post-fight press conference, Adesanya made it clear that he feels he’s done fighting Pereira (h/t MMAMania).

“It’s done,” Adesanya said. “He’s had his story, now it’s my story. And I’ve closed that chapter and again, I move on.”

Adesanya argued that he never had to give Pereira a title shot last year, but did so for the challenge. He thinks if there is a chance that he fights Pereira one more time, “Poatan” will have to fight other top middleweights.

“Plus I was looking for that challenge. He’s the guy that beat me in kickboxing, I was looking for that challenge, that’s why I took that fight. The rematch, I got the immediate rematch because of what I’ve done in the game. I won the belt against Kelvin. I defended against Rob [Whittaker], [Yoel] Romero, [Paulo] Costa, [Marvin] Vettori, Rob again, [Jared] Cannonier. Seven. My other belt would have seven f—ing gems on it.

“So I did the hard yards and I earned my f—ing rematch … now he has to do the hard yards if he wants to do it.”

With that said, Adesanya isn’t convinced that Pereira will remain in the middleweight division. He believes his fierce rival will take his talents to the light heavyweight division. UFC President Dana White also thinks Pereira will decide to change weight class.