Alex Pereira believes Israel Adesanya should have taken a longer break before their UFC 287 rematch, agreeing with Adesanya’s coach’s suggestion.
When it comes to UFC 287, Alex Pereira agrees with Israel Adesanya’s coach. In February, Adesanya’s longtime coach, Eugene Bareman, expressed his preference for the former champion to sit out and wait longer before heading straight into an immediate rematch against Pereira. Pereira had previously knocked Adesanya out with a fifth-round barrage to capture the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 281 in November. However, Adesanya didn’t want to wait, and the rematch is now set for Saturday at UFC 287 in Miami.
Pereira, speaking at UFC 287 media day on Wednesday, admitted that if he were on Adesanya’s team, he would have advised against taking the rematch so soon. “If he was on my team, I would tell him, ‘Man, don’t do this fight now,'” Pereira said. “He’s had a brilliant career but he saw there’s no success against me, so I would definitely advise him against doing this fight now. Fight once or twice, and then come back and try again.” The issue, Pereira speculated, might be that Adesanya is the one making the final decisions at Bareman’s City Kickboxing gym in New Zealand.
Pereira further commented on decision-making in his own team, contrasting it with the apparent situation in Adesanya’s camp. “I think he’s the man in charge, the one who says, ‘I want this and that’s it,’”, Pereira said. “I don’t know. It’s not like myself, Glover [Teixeira], and the team. We talk about things. You have to guide your athlete, because if someone asks a true fighter if he wants to fight someone, he’ll always say yes. But sometimes it’s not the [right] moment.” Pereira added that having a team where people understand each other, set aside their egos, and communicate is essential for success.
In the end, Pereira, nicknamed “Poatan,” feels that if he is victorious on Saturday at UFC 287, it will likely be his final clash with the Nigerian talent, considering he’ll improve to 4-0 over Adesanya in two different sports. “Beating him now, I think I’ll never see him again,” Pereira said.