Glover Teixeira: Just a matter of time until Alex Pereira fights Israel Adesanya in the UFC
UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira believes it is just a matter of time until Alex Pereira fights Israel Adesanya in the UFC.
Teixeira defeated Jan Blachowicz last month in the main event of UFC 267 to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion. At age 42, the Brazilian became a first-time champion in the world’s leading MMA promotion. A week after winning the belt, Teixeira stepped back into the Octagon, only this time as a cornerman for his teammate Pereira, who fought Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268. In what was an explosive and spectacular UFC debut, Pereira brutally knocked out Michailidis with a flying knee.
There is a lot of speculation now that the UFC may fast-track Pereira up the middleweight ladder, in part because he is 34 years old already, and in part because of his history with the division’s champion Adesanya. Pereira has previously fought Adesanya in kickboxing and notably knocked him out. If you ask Teixeira, who recently spoke to AG Fight, it’s just a matter of time until Pereira fights Adesnaya again.
“I’m not going to say that the guy (Adesanya) is afraid, but the division was very interesting and he knows it. I saw him watching the (Pereira) fight and doing it like that (money-related gesture). He knows (Pereira) will get there fast, he’s been sticking to him already. They have history. Adesanya should want to clean up this story, let him come and let’s fight one more time. It’s a fight and we’ll see,” Teixeira said. “This fight would be the same game (as in kickboxing), standing up. What’s the difference now? Did Adesanya put you down? Only seeing that I will believe. I train with (Pereira) and I know he won’t do it. You can even put it in an exchange, but it doesn’t hold.”
Do you agree with Glover Teixeira that it is just a matter of time until Alex Pereira fights Israel Adesanya, and do you think he will win again if they fight in MMA?
