"Always asking for the biggest and best challenges" – Former rival has words of praise for Israel Adesanya 

UFC middleweight Derek Brunson was all praise for 185lbs king Israel Adesanya.

Israel Adesanya is set to defend his title against Alex Pereira at the main event of UFC 281. The event is scheduled for November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

This will be Adesanya's sixth title defence, where he will attempt to retain his unbeaten record at middleweight. The Nigerian-born Kiwi will also look to avenge his two losses against the Brazilian opponent from their kickboxing days.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson expressed his excitement for the upcoming title clash. The 38-year-old also appreciated Adesanya's zeal for taking on new challenges and wrote:

"I must say I’m excited to see how this middleweight title fight unfolds tonight. Like Israel Adesanya or not, this is one of the first champs who is game to fight anyone & always asking for the biggest and best challenges . #UFC281"

Check out Brunson's Twitter post below:

Brunson's last outing was against former middleweight title contender Jared Cannonier at UFC 271. The North Carolina native suffered a brutal knockout at the hands of 'The Killa Gorilla' at the 4:29 mark of the second round. The 38-year-old was on an impressive five-fight winning streak before losing to Cannonier.

Derek Brunson is next scheduled to fight Jack Hermansson at the UFC Fight Night event scheduled for December 3 at the Amway Center in Florida, United States.

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Israel Adesanya reveals the reason behind taking up a fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

During a recent appearance on ESPN's First Take, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya revealed that his history with the former Glory fighter was the primary reason he accepted the fight.

Furthermore, the middleweight kingpin stated that there is currently no one to challenge him for the title as he has more or less wiped out the 185lbs division. The 33-year-old champ said:

"I still maintain that he [Pereira] hasn't earned his spot. The way I got to the belt was through a gauntlet, but because I've already cleared the path by clearing out the middleweight division, there's really no one else for me to fight. And he jumped into MMA. We have that history in kickboxing. So yeah, you know, they set him up nicely... I like that because it's a big money fight."

Check out why Israel Adesanya wants to fight Alex Pereira in the interview below: