A reflective Israel Adesanya claims he did Alex Pereira’s son a favour when he mocked the child after his devastating UFC middleweight title win.
Adesanya gained revenge on the Brazilian fighter with his knockout victory in Maimi, Florida to reclaim the belt.
He also took the chance to gain some revenge on Periera’s son who had shocked him by entering the ring in 2017 when Adesanya was knocked out and imitating the Kiwi-Nigerian’s fall to the canvas.
SKY SPORT
Israel Adesanya wins back his UFC middleweight title with a second round knockout win over Alex Pereira in Miami.
In Miami Adesanya replicated what the boy did, an act that drew sharp criticism in the wake of some wild victory celebrations in Miami last month.
Adesanya used his YouTube channel to review the performance. He revealed a major injury scare in training less than two weeks out from the title fight, and he also covered off his behaviour towards the child, doubling down on his earlier explanations with no regrets but plenty more details.
Adesanya admitted he had taken the time to find where Pereira’s family was, should his opportunity arise.
“I knew where everyone was at. I knew where [my family] were at, I knew where his family was, I knew where everyone was at,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.
“So as I was walking around, I was like, ‘Where is [Pereira’s son]? I’m going to find him.’ And I see his kid, and then his sister I think was holding them, shielding them because they were crying.
“Bang. And again, I don’t react – I respond. ‘He’s only a kid.’ And I’m like, and the f… what? If I had a son, and he came to the cage after 287 and then started to do that next to Pereira, I’d be like, ‘What the f… are you doing? Hey, come here. Apologise. Apologise to that man.’
“Bro, the guy knocked me out in his home country, and it’s my first-ever time being put out cold, and then you see your kid doing that and you don’t have the discipline to scold him?
“And then again before [UFC] 281, you’re in your car, and you’re like, ‘Oh, look what my son did. … I was like, what the f…? You’re making fun of one of the moments of my life that I’m not so proud of. I’m like, ‘Bet. If you’re not going to teach your kids manners and respect, I will.’ So I did him a favour. I did that kid a favour.
“Now he has a life lesson that he can hold onto forever and just remember that. He can remember that. But yeah, I don’t regret it. I’m glad I did it. F… them kids.”
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Israel Adesanya’s fists finished off Alex Pereira.
In terms of the prefight injury, Adesanya said he suffered a painful grade 1 MCL tear. He eventually came through the pain, using it as motivation and drawing inspiration from two similar situations before earlier fights.
“I’ve been here before,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.
“My UFC debut, three weeks out, I did my right ankle. I remember the next day, or that night, calling [his physiotherapist], and being like, ‘Yo, I need to see you tomorrow, ASAP.’
“He had to like, re-injure it, or cause pain to it – I don’t know, it’s magic or whatever, but I remember biting on a towel and sitting there in pain, screaming as he’s massaging my hurt ankle where it’s not supposed to be massaged, because it hurt, but you’re supposed to.
“So, that’s one. [Derek] Brunson fight, I hurt my knee three weeks beforehand. I remember pops saying take five days off and just do nothing. It was really bad.
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Israel Adesanya’s late knee injury didn’t prevent him using his strong kicking game against Alex Pereira.
“I took five days off … three weeks before the biggest fight of my life at [Madison Square Garden]. I just took it off and then locked it in, locked it down. It’s all part of the story. This is meant to happen. No one wants anything like this to happen, but if you can’t change your circumstances, change your perspective.
“So I was like, ‘This has happened. This is my perspective. This was meant to happen. I’ll overcome this.’
“So the comeback of getting from then to the cage [against Pereira] was already a big win for me, because after doing that – because that was really bad – but I was like, if I can get through that and get to the cage, this fight, I can get through it.
“So it added to my confidence, added to my fortitude. I was like, they can’t break me.”
