When will Alex Pereira vs Israel Adesanya 3 happen? All you need to know about one of the biggest rivalries in UFC history

03/05/2025 09:48 AM

Alex Pereria vs Israel Adesanya is one of the greatest rivalries of all time, but will there be a fifth showdown between the two legends?

The pair first met in a fascinating kickboxing encounter at Glory of Heroes 1, at the Bao’an Stadium in Shenzhen, China, with ‘Poatan’ walking away with a decision victory following a close encounter.

The icons ran it back at Glory of Heroes 7, in Pereira’s backyard of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the hometown hero had to bite down on his gumshield, to pull out a remarkable left hook, that rendered his opponent unconscious.

At this point, Adesanya switched sports, embarking on his road to the UFC. But while many presumed this meant that the rivalry was over, it had only just begun.

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Alex Pereira has given opinion on whether he will ever fight Israel Adesanya again

On Saturday night, at UFC 313, inside the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Alex Pereira will go toe-to-toe with Magomed Ankalaev in an eagerly anticipated clash.

But while this feud has been heating up for a while, the power puncher is still talking about Israel Adesanya.

In an interview with Stake, Pereira said: I don't know if there is a particular thing that makes him more dangerous than the others. For example, Adesanya is more dangerous than Ankalaev. People say that they haven’t seen me grapple as much, but I'm a well-rounded fighter; I’m a complete fighter.

“It's not that I want to go in there and prove anything to anyone, but I know he is going to grapple. We've seen a lot of fighters say 'Oh I'm going to go in there with Pereira and stand with him and not take him down', but I have a very unique standup game which makes it hard for grapplers to close the distance and grapple me. We've seen fighters who lose to me say that they lost, but they did what they said they'd do and strike with me. Maybe it's more the fact that they couldn't take me down!”

Of course, the world is excited for the fight to come, but a fifth slice of Pereira vs Adesanaya certainly wouldn’t go amiss. After all, their two previous encounters in the UFC, delivered in abundance.

Their first battle inside the cage went down at UFC 281, inside Madison Square Garden, New York, USA, where, in a war of attrition, the Nigerian-born striker looked on course to victory, before his nemesis produced yet another comeback to secure a fifth-round knockout.

With Adesanya determined to win back his championship belt, the pair engaged in yet another showdown at UFC 287, inside the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, USA.

This time, the New Zealand-based warrior finally got the win, knocking his opponent out cold with a thunderous shot.

However, surprisingly, Pereira isn’t particularly interested in getting his revenge.

He explained: “I think that's in the past. I honestly think the fans are over it too, so I don't think that's possible.”

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Israel Adesanya doesn’t want to fight Alex Pereira again

Since they last went toe-to-toe, Pereira and Adesanya have become friends, with Poatan even trying to form a bond with Kamaru Usman, to continue building his relationship with his old foe.

Ultimately, Adesanya is at peace with everything that has happened in the past, and doesn’t feel it necessary to try and even up the score.

In an interview on Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube channel, he said: “First fight in China, I thought I won. Even he thought I won until he got his hand raised. Second fight, I’m beating his a–, and he gets me.

“Again in New York, I’m beating him, rocked him, took him down, held him down, and he gets me.

“I knew I could beat this guy. I had to tap into some darkness for that camp. People who knew me, I was different. I was like, ‘Ain’t no way this motherf—– beating me four times’.

“It’s about the story, now — I’ve beat him once, but then, watch this, if I fight him again, what are they going to say? ‘It’s 3-2, it’s now best out of seven’. I’m 34, I’ve only got a certain amount of fights left.”