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Alex Pereira already has two wins over Israel Adesanya, so it's natural to think that the Brazilian came over to MMA just to haunt his rival.
However, 'Poatan' revealed that his decision to cross over from pro kickboxing to MMA wasn't influenced by Adesanya at all. Instead, it was former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira who apparently convinced Pereira to make the switch.
During an interview with BT Sport, the UFC middleweight title challenger said:
"I actually did not go to MMA because of Israel Adesanya because I made my debut in 2015. Then I kept going in kickboxing, but what made me [want to] switch to want to go to MMA was when a few years ago I came to have Glover Teixeira for one of his fights and I just said this is where I wanna go."
Watch Alex Pereira's interview below:
Teixeira acts as a training partner and coach to Pereira. When 'Poatan' switched to mixed martial arts, he teamed up with Teixeira in Bethel, Connecticut, to learn from the MMA veteran.
Pereira will challenge Adesanya for the middleweight title in Saturday’s UFC 281 main event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It will be the first time the rivals meet under MMA rules.
Glover Teixeira confident of Alex Pereira's chances against Israel Adesanya
Glover Teixeira is confident that Alex Pereira will force Israel Adesanya out of his comfort zone on Saturday.
Regarded as one of the most technical strikers in the UFC, Israel Adesanya has dominated his past few fights by comfortably picking his opponents apart en route to decision wins. However, Teixeira believes that Alex Pereira's aggressive style will leave Adesanya no choice but to engage.
During an interview with All Access MMA, the former UFC light heavyweight champion said:
"I don’t see this fight going the distance. I see Alex closing the distance, getting the timing, getting his distance right, and Alex is a difficult fighter to go to a decision with him. I mean, it can go [the distance] because Adesanya moves away and tries not to engage all the time and be really quick getting out of punches, but he’s still going to lose that fight because Alex is going to keep pressuring him...When you fight him, you’re getting touched by those hands. You’re going down."
Catch the interview below:
