Israel Adesanya, the former UFC middleweight champion is set to face Brazilian Alex Pereira in a rematch at the FTX Arena, Miami, Florida later today.
Adesanya first had a bout with Pereira in Madison Square Garden, New York on November 12, 2022. Since then, the Nigerian-born UFC middleweight fighter has been eager to reclaim his belt and title.
“I’m hunting, and I mean that in every sense of the word,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “The mindset is different, definitely. Even, Eugene [Bareman, his head coach] and I are on the same page. The mindset is definitely different.
“I like it because it puts it all on me, and it’s kind of poetic in a way. One life: Roll the dice. This is my last shot, and I’m going to give to it all I’ve got in every sense of the word.”
Pereira will touch gloves with Adesanya at 8 pm on Saturday night, News About Nigeria reports.
Pereira could only win by knockout in their last fight after Adesanya was already beating him 39-37 on all three scorecards entering the fifth and final round.
Adesanya will look to pick up a win in an immediate rematch against the odds, having already lost three times to Pereira including their two showdowns in the kickboxing ranks.
A win for Pereira will cap off his hugely successful rise in the UFC and solidify his status in the division and could also see him look to move up in weight if he is able to conquer Adesanya again.
33-year-old Adesanya is 1.93 m tall and weighs 83 kg while Pereira, 35 years on the other hand is 193cm tall and weighs 84 kg.
The two middleweights twice clashed in the Glory kickboxing ring. Pereira won both times, first by unanimous decision in Shenzhen, China, in 2016, then by knockout a year later in Sao Paulo, and many favour the Brazilian to do it again this Saturday.
