Adesanya shuts down 3rd Pereira bout; White expects ex-champ to move to 205

Israel Adesanya doesn't think it makes sense to face Alex Pereira again right away.

Adesanya reclaimed the UFC middleweight championship with a stunning knockout win over Pereira at UFC 287 on Saturday, five months after losing the title to him in a come-from-behind TKO.

They're now tied at 1-1 in MMA (Pereira also holds two wins over Adesanya in kickboxing), and a trilogy bout would usually be the next move. Adesanya believes his immediate rematch was justified as he was a dominant champion, but he doesn't think Pereira - who was making his first title defense - deserves the same privilege.

"I don't keep score. I settle them. Now it's settled," Adesanya said at the postfight press conference. "Look, I gave (Pereira) a fast track to the belt. I could've said, 'Nah, f--k no. Who has he fought? He fought one top-five (opponent). Nah. But he did well. Fought some alright guys then beat f-----g (Sean) Strickland. And I was like, 'OK, fine, there's no one else.'"

"I got the immediate rematch because of what I've done in this game," he continued. "I won the belt against Kelvin (Gastelum), I defended against Rob (Whittaker), (Yoel) Romero, (Paulo) Costa, (Marvin) Vettori, Rob again, (Jared) Cannonier. That's seven. My other belt, we have seven f-----g gems on it. I did the hard yards, and I earned my f-----g rematch. Now he's got to do the hard yards if he wants to do that."

But Adesanya said he doesn't think Pereira will chase the trilogy fight. Instead, he suggested that the Brazilian move up to the light heavyweight division.

"Go cause problems at 205 (pounds)," Adesanya said. "And f--k, good luck to everybody else, because he's a motherf----r to deal with. I'll tell you that."

UFC president Dana White said he wouldn't be surprised if Pereira moves up in weight ahead of his next bout.

"Honestly, I think that Pereira probably moves to 205 (pounds) after this fight," White said at the postfight press conference when asked if he would book the trilogy bout. "He's a monster. I know that he still had like two pounds to cut leading up to the - it was like an hour left of the weigh-ins. I'm not saying he's moving to 205, but I would assume he is."