Alex Pereira believes he has the attention of the man who he previously defeated inside the kickboxing ring, current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya . In 2017, Pereira (4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) finished Adesanya in a kickboxing match, which many believe is a big reason why he was signed to the UFC in 2021, despite only having a handful of professional MMA bouts. The Brazilian kickboxer debuted at UFC 268 against Andreas Michailidis, showing the world his striking offense is for real by landing a devastating flying knee in the second round to close the show. Just a few months later, Pereira is set to make his second walk to the UFC cage at UFC Fight Night 203 to take on Bruno Silva (22-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC). While Pereira believes the middleweight rankings are right around the corner should he pick up another impressive win on Saturday, most importantly, he believes he already has the attention of Adesanya. “Honestly, the moment that he found out that I signed here, I believe he’s already been worrying about (a rematch),” Pereira told reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s media day.
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