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UFC president Dana White has named Israel Adesanya's former opponent Alex Pereira as one of the toughest fighters currently competing in the promotion. Pereira has just two fights under his belt in the UFC and six professional MMA fights in total with a 5-1 record.
At the recently concluded UFC Vegas 50 event this past weekend, Pereira picked up his second straight win in the organization with a unanimous decision victory over Bruno Silva. During a recent interaction with Logan Paul on the Impaulsive podcast, Dana White hailed the Brazilian as one of the toughest fighters on the roster:
"The guy who just fought yesterday, his name's [Alex] Pereira, he's the guy who fought Israel Adesanya twice in kickboxing and beat him."
Check out the Impaulsive podcast below:
Alex Pereira has two wins over UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya under kickboxing rules. He happens to be the only fighter to have ever knocked out 'The Last Stylebender'. Back in 2017, Adesanya and Pereira had a rematch at the Glory of Heroes 7 event.
In the third round of the fight, Pereira knocked Adesanya out cold with a vicious left hook.
Watch Pereira knock Adesanya out in a kickboxing bout below:
Alex Pereira names contender beating whom could earn him a title shot against Israel Adesanya
Ever since he signed with the UFC, fans and analysts have been talking about a potential fight between Pereira and Adesanya inside the octagon. Although he has two wins over Adesanya in kickboxing, MMA is a different ball game altogether. Furthermore, the Nigerian-born New Zealander has dominated the middleweight division since his arrival.
While he does want to fight the champ down the line, Pereira is currently focused on working his way towards earning that fight. In his eyes, the next logical bout would be against Jared Cannonier. During a recent interview with Brazilian news outlet Combate, Pereira said:
"If people are saying I should fight Adesanya, why not Jared Cannonier? I have nothing against him, but he’s highly ranked, too. He’s close to the belt. I think it would be a good fight."
Prior to his recent victory over Bruno Silva, Pereira had fought once before in the UFC. On his debut in November last year, 'Poatan' knocked Andreas Michailidis out with a spectacular flying knee and follow-up punches.
