Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya doesn't expect to ever complete his trilogy with Alex Pereira.
"My story with him is over," Adesanya said Wednesday in a video on his YouTube channel.
Adesanya and Pereira had one of the best rivalries in recent history, squaring off in the Octagon twice in the last two years. Pereira upset Adesanya via fifth-round TKO to take away the middleweight title in November 2022, and then Adesanya got revenge with a second-round knockout in April 2023. Pereira also defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing, years before either joined the UFC.
Naturally, there was talk of a third bout after Adesanya's Knockout of the Year candidate at UFC 287, but the two have gone in different directions since then. Pereira moved up to light heavyweight and won the title, becoming the ninth two-division champion in UFC history last November. Pereira is scheduled to make his third title defense at UFC 307 on Saturday against Khalil Rountree Jr.
Adesanya, meanwhile, dropped the 185-pound belt to Sean Strickland later in 2023 and then spent 11 months on the sidelines. "The Last Stylebender" returned to the Octagon at UFC 305 in August and suffered a submission loss to current champ Dricus Du Plessis.
With Pereira thriving at 205 pounds, Adesanya recognizes it's unlikely they'll get a chance to settle the score. So he'll be rooting for his former rival to keep having success.
"I hope (Pereira) retires undefeated. Not undefeated, but the rest of his career," Adesanya said. "It'd just be like, 'I beat that n---- one time.'"
