Ex-UFC Double Champ Backs Alex Pereira's Surprising Callout
Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo thinks the UFC might disregard the rankings when deciding on the first challenger for Alex Pereira's newly-acquired light heavyweight title.
Last weekend’s UFC 295 card at Madison Square Garden was originally supposed to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic before “Bones” was forced to pull out of the event with a pectoral injury.
The co-main event between Pereira and Jiří Procházka was promoted to main event status following Jones’ withdrawal, and late in the second round of that fight “Poatan” stopped Procházka to claim the vacant light heavyweight belt.
Pereira surprised some fans by calling out his rival and ex-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya following his victory, but Cejudo understands exactly why the Brazilian wants to pursue that matchup.
Pereira and Adesanya have met twice in the UFC.
(Rich Storry/USA TODAY Sports)
“You know who he’s going after now? He’s going after the guy who he’s beaten three times, Israel Adesanya,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “There’s two reasons why. One, he wants to get it back. Two, it’s a cash cow. Or better yet; One, he’s a cash cow. Two, he wants to get that fight back.”
Adesanya came up short against Pereira twice during their kickboxing careers before the 34-year-old fully committed to MMA and eventually won the UFC middleweight title. The Brazilian stunned Adesanya in the final round at UFC 281 to claim the middleweight belt, but the "The Last Stylebender" finally got his revenge when he won their immediate rematch at UFC 287.
There’s already a number of light heavyweight contenders like former champions Jamahal Hill and Jan Błachowicz that are eager for a chance at Pereira’s new belt, but Cejudo wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC decided to let Adesanya walk right into a light heavyweight title shot.
Adesanya lost the UFC middleweight title in his last fight.
“I like it. I mean, is Israel Adesanya the number one contender at light heavyweight? No. Will the UFC give him that fight?...They’re gonna give Israel Adesanya that fight if Israel really wants it. Unless Israel is really serious about retirement, or if he just wants to do this whole YouTube content type stuff."
A trilogy bout in the UFC between Pereira and Adesanya would undoubtedly be a massive fight for the promotion, but unfortunately the fighting future of “The Last Stylebender” is somewhat uncertain following his upset loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Adesanya suffered the first setback of his MMA career when he moved up to light heavyweight at UFC 259 and attempted to become a two-division UFC champion. The 34-year-old dropped a decision to Błachowicz at that event, but another chance at the light heavyweight title as well as the opportunity to face Pereira again may be enough to motivate Adesanya to return to the cage.
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