Israel Adesanya all the time retains the receipts, irrespective of who you might be.
The UFC 287 predominant occasion marked the fourth fight sports activities assembly between Adesanya and Alex Pereira, with Pereira up 3-0 within the sequence earlier than Adesanya crushed him by way of second-round knockout of their UFC middleweight championship rematch. Pereira defeated Adesanya at UFC 281 final November and in addition beat Adesanya twice within the kickboxing ring previous to their resuming their rivalry within the octagon.
It was their second kickboxing bout that impressed Adesanya’s post-fight celebration on Saturday. After leaving Pereira laid out, Adesanya first imitated the Brazilian star’s famed archery skills after which strolled over to 1 aspect of the cage the place he carried out an exaggerated flop to the mat.
On the night’s post-fight press convention, Adesanya defined that he was merely returning the favor to Pereira’s son, who mocked him in comparable vogue after Pereira knocked Adesanya out in March 2017.
Watch a comparability of the post-fight moments right here:
“I’m petty,” Adesanya mentioned. “I keep in mind. The primary time he knocked me out in Brazil, his son got here into the ring after which simply began to lie lifeless subsequent to me. I’m like, ‘You f****** little a******, I’ll whoop your ass in case your dad don’t do it for you.’ I regarded for his child, I pointed at him, and I noticed him and I used to be like, ‘Hey, hey, hey,’ simply to remind him.
“I noticed [Pereira] backstage. We’re cool. He’s an important champion, he’s a warrior. His story, I imply that, I’m the antagonist of his story. He’s a f****** beast, coming from the place he’s come from. The adversities he’s been by means of in his life to get to the place he’s gotten now, and taking me out the way in which he has, it’s a f****** stunning story for him. However like I mentioned, tonight it’s not about his story, it’s about my story, which is historical past.”
Adesanya has a historical past of theatrics each pre- and post-fight. He’s well-known for his dramatic entrances, which embody a choreographed group dance at UFC 243 and an homage to WWE legend The Undertaker at UFC 276. At UFC 253, he celebrated a knockout of Paulo Costa by pretending to hump him after the win.
A fan of anime, Adesanya was jokingly reminded that Pereira’s son might someday develop up and search to avenge his father within the vein of a basic martial arts storyline, which Adesanya responded to in jest.
“For those who can crawl, we will brawl,” Adesanya mentioned with a chuckle.
See one other angle of Adesanya’s UFC 287 post-fight celebration beneath, courtesy of UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad, who was cageside in Miami.
