"I beat him two times already" - Alex Pereira vows to take Israel Adesanya's belt, says the middleweight champ should be worried

Alex Pereira – the only man to knock Israel Adesanya out – is making his UFC debut this weekend. Having beaten the current middleweight kingpin twice before, Pereira is confident that he'll soon rise to the pinnacle of the UFC 185-pound weight class.

In an interview with Andrew Whitelaw of Sportskeeda MMA, the former kickboxer said he'd beat Adesanya for a third time if they fought tomorrow. Pereira added that 'The Last Stylebender' should be worried now that he has arrived, saying:

"Well if the fight is tomorrow, me and him, absolutely [I would beat him]. But I know I just got into the organization, I have a path to follow here before I get the belt. So my focus is to become the world champion. So if he's there or not, that's where I wanna get. Let's see who's there by the time I get there. But when I get there and he's still there, I will have no fear at all to take his belt. The one who got to be worried about is him because I beat him two times already."

Adesanya's initial encounter with Pereira came in April 2016 at Glory of Heroes 1 in China. Pereira earned a unanimous decision victory after three rounds. A year later, the pair crossed paths again at Glory of Heroes 15 – a bout that saw the only KO loss in Adesanya's career.

Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 at Glory of Heroes 15:

The Aucklander has since left kickboxing in pursuit of MMA. On Saturday, Pereira will try to prove he's the new premier striker in the octagon as he's set to make his promotional debut. The Brazilian will take on Andreas Michailidis in a featured prelims bout at UFC 268.

Check out our exclusive interview with Alex Pereira below:

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Alex Pereira wants the title, not Israel Adesanya

Alex Pereira made it clear that he came to the UFC to claim gold and not necessarily to complete a trilogy with Israel Adesanya. During the UFC 268 pre-fight press conference, Pereira told reporters:

"I didn’t come here after Adesanya, I came here to be a champion. Who knows, maybe by the time I get there he’s no longer the champion anymore. So I’m just taking it step by step. I just got to the organization and I’m just aiming to be a champion here. If I get there and it’s him, fine. If it’s not him, I’ll work with what I have."

Check out Alex Pereira's full interview below: