In November 2022, Adesanya and Pereira carried over their kickboxing rivalry to the UFC. Pereira won the first meeting by fifth-round standing TKO to become the new middleweight champion.

Israel Adesanya discussed his mindset prior to the Alex Pereira rematch after David Goggins revisited the former champion's win over Pereira. According to Adesanya, he was in a different frame of ...