Kamaru Usman jokes 'it's not fair' if Israel Adesanya doesn't fight Alex Pereira again
Kamaru Usman jokes 'it's not fair' if Israel Adesanya doesn't fight Alex Pereira again
Kamaru Usman tells Israel Adesanya he can't close his chapter with Alex Pereira now.
After losing to Pereira twice in kickboxing and once in the UFC for the middleweight title, Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) was able to finally get one back on "Poatan" by reclaiming his belt with a knockout of his own at UFC 287. Despite being down in their rivalry, Adesanya was content to move on.
Former UFC welterweight champion Usman thinks Adesanya should entertain the idea of facing Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) again after people had repeatedly expressed interest in a trilogy bout in MMA.
"That's not fair, it's not fair," Usman said on the "Pound 4 Pound" podcast with Henry Cejudo. "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."
Adesanya, who's currently on a three-fight losing skid, explains why he's at peace with his rivalry against now light heavyweight Pereira. The pair were recently seen seated next to each other at UFC 312, and appear to have buried the hatchet.
"He's a hard fight, he knows I'm a hard fight," Adesanya said of Pereira. "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, and if I beat him now, what are they going to say? 'Actually, it's 3-2' or whatever. They'll make up some new sh*t."
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