Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, who has had a longstanding rivalry, recently found themselves at the same airport, as shown in videos they posted on their social media pages. Pereira’s video captured Adesanya trying to evade the camera in a humorous manner while traveling with fellow UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski. Adesanya’s video, on the other hand, showed him walking ahead while Pereira followed a few spots behind.
Their rivalry began in kickboxing, with two matches between them, and eventually spilled into the UFC octagon for the middleweight title at UFC 281 in November. Pereira staged a comeback and defeated Adesanya in the fifth round to become the champion. However, in their second meeting just five months later, Adesanya got his revenge by knocking out Pereira in the second round to reclaim the title.
Pereira is now moving up to the light heavyweight division to face former champion Jan Blachowicz at the UFC 291 event in July. Adesanya, on the other hand, is expected to defend his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 293 in September, which will mark the promotion’s return to Sydney, Australia.