- Alex Pereira commented on Israel Adesanya’s decision to take a break
- “Poatan” is not convinced that Izzy will take a long time before making a UFC return
Given his long-standing rivalry with Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira is often asked about his fellow former UFC middleweight champ. However, despite knowing Adesanya for a long time, “Poatan” admitted that he couldn’t comprehend what is going on with Izzy when he decided to take a long break from competing.
Izzy is hard to understand
In a recent interview with Shak MMA, Pereira weighed in on Adesanya’s situation and said that unlike with other big-name UFC stars, money has nothing to do with Izzy’s sudden inactivity. For the Brazilian, Adesanya always wants to fight but the tough title fight loss may have gotten him a bit confused at the moment.
“It’s hard to say anything about it because it’s hard to understand Adesanya on that position,” Pereira said. “He’s saying that he’s going to take all this time off, but it’s not only about money. The guy already made his money but it’s not about that. He likes to fight. So maybe he’s just confused so he has to hold on and see what’s next.
2027 is too long for a fighter like Izzy
Amid his indefinite inactivity, Adesanya insists that he is not retiring for good and in fact, planning for a 2027 UFC return. While that might be true, Pereira is not buying it.
“Earlier than that,” Pereira said of Adesanya’s possible return in 2027. “And faster than everybody believes.”
Pereira and Adesanya is 1-1 in MMA as both managed to secure a title fight win over one another. As it stands, “Poatan” has already moved up to 205 and is set to face Jiri Prochazka for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 295. Nevertheless, Pereira once said that he would still go back and finish what he and Adesanya started after he is done conquering light heavyweight division.
Check out Pereira’s full interview below:
