Alex Pereira was all smiles alongside his former foe Israel Adesanya at UFC 312.
The pair linked up at Qudos Financial institution Enviornment in Sydney, Australia, the place followers, battling the morning blues, confirmed their love for MMA Down Beneath.
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The cardboard in Sydney began at 10.30am native time, however you can hardly inform the distinction as these in attendance offered the same, if not higher environment than typical UFC playing cards in America.
In actual fact, UFC legend and British MMA icon Michael Bisping, who was working on the occasion as a commentator mentioned: “The power in right here is ridiculous.” forward of the primary card.
Pereira, 37 is a two-division UFC champion, having knocked out Adesanya, 35, to say middleweight gold again in November 2022.
He then went on to say the sunshine heavyweight title, shifting up a division to defeat Jiri Prochazka following a KO loss to the Nigeria-born New Zealand fighter of their rematch.
Pereira and Adesanya have confronted one another a complete of 4 instances in fight sports activities.
The final two outings got here within the UFC and the primary two in Chinese language kickboxing promotion, Glory of Heroes, the place Pereira received each bouts in 2016 and 2017.
Each males have been in attendance with a eager eye on UFC 312’s important occasion, as Pereira’s coaching accomplice, Sean Strickland, challenged Dricus Du Plessis in a rematch for the middleweight title.
Adesanya is aware of the way it feels to step into the octagon with each males, as they make up two of his final three losses in Dana White’s promotion.
‘The Final Stylebender’ has suffered three straight UFC defeats, with a loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia originally of his month being his most up-to-date.
Pereira took to X throughout the prelims at UFC 312 to share a straight-faced picture of himself alongside Adesanya and considered one of his coaches Plinio Cruz.
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The caption learn: “Chama,” which interprets to ‘let’s go’ or ‘come on’ when getting used as slang, and is Pereira’s trademark response he typically makes use of when chatting with the media.
UFC followers everywhere in the world have been fast with their responses to the new-found friendship.
One took to X and wrote: “Legendary picture.”
Whereas one other mentioned: “Australia is blessed. Monumental image.”
A 3rd added: “Alex and Izzy ought to begin coaching collectively. They may actually make one another higher.”
Adesanya additionally shared the photographs on his X account, together with one with the pair smiling and one other edited to indicate each males on a rollercoaster.
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He made headlines final month for related causes when he shared pictures alongside one other former rival in Robert Whittaker.
The 2 ex-UFC champions have been noticed sparring in coaching footage launched by Adesanya, who has shared the octagon with Whittaker twice.
They then sat down on a podcast with each other to debate the cardboard at UFC 312.
Adesanya was topped the UFC’s middleweight champion for the primary time after knocking out Whittaker throughout a record-breaking bout in October 2019.
Their first battle headlined UFC 243 in Australia, as each New Zealand representatives threw down in an all-Oceanic area title battle.
The occasion holds the document for probably the most attended UFC card within the organisation’s historical past as 57,127 followers packed into the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
The pair then met towards at UFC 271 in February 2022, with Adesanya profitable the bout through unanimous resolution.
Many followers have puzzled if Adesanya’s finest days are actually behind him following his newest defeat to Imavov.