Ahead of Israel Adesanya’s August fixture against Alex Du Plessis, Alex Pereira has thrown his weight behind the Nigerian-New Zealander, backing him to win the title and become the middleweight champion for the third time. 

Pereira was the one who ended Adesanya’s reign as champion the first time, although Adesanya later regained the title months later by defeating Pereira, which was the first time he would win in their four meetings. Now, Poatan is looking forward to Izzy becoming champion again. 

On his YouTube channel, Pereira stated, “They asked me about Adesanya and Du Plessis – I said I don’t see Adesanya losing. Just because he said that about me doesn’t mean I’ll say it back. It’s what I think. I don’t think he loses this fight. I hope he wins because he has a beautiful story. I think he has to continue his story. He isn’t a young guy.”

Despite their contentious past, Pereira, 37, has expressed a willingness to train with Adesanya and does not bear resentment towards him. Their rivalry has seen many exchanges over the years, but with Adesanya vying for the middleweight belt and Pereira reigning as the light heavyweight champion, there’s little point in the ongoing conflict.

This is unlike Adesanya, who posted a video of his knockout win against Pereira on the night the Brazilian faced Jamahal Hill, a fight he won. 

Pereira conveyed his support, saying, “I’m here, supporting him. I already fought him, not going to say he should lose. I’m not mad at him. No grudges. Like I said, if one day it’s possible to train with him, exchanging knowledge. Behind the scenes, we hear a lot of things about Adesanya. A lot of people talk about him like, ‘He’s this, he’s bad’ and whatnot.

“The people who truly know him that I had contact with talk good about him. Has a good heart. A lot of the time, it’s just marketing. I believe that. I can see he is a good person. So that’s why I’m here, cheering for him. If he doesn’t cheer for me, that’s not my problem. But I’m here, cheering for him.”