Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira held off their competition to share a few laughs when they recently crossed paths at the airport.
Both fighters were in Melbourne, Australia, last week. Adesanya trained with the New Zealand Warriors rugby team, while Pereira visited the Melbourne Storm. Adesanya and Pereira were also present at the boxing match between Joseph Parker and Faiga Opelu.
Although they did not meet during that time, they ended up at the airport at the same time. In Pereira’s video, Adesanya jokingly hides his face when the camera finds him, while Pereira crouches into the distance in the version he filmed “The Last Stylebender”.
Guess who I met at the airport? 👀 pic.twitter.com/c2xr4MAVUs
– Alex “Boatan” Pereira (AlexPereiraUFC)
May 29, 2023
💘💘💘❤️🔥
My life is a video game 🎮 pic.twitter.com/MoIdUniTJv– Israel Adesanya (stylebender)
May 29, 2023
Adesanya and Pereira have squared off on four occasions in combat sports. Pereira outlasted the City Kickboxing actor twice in professional kickboxing matches before transitioning into MMA, upsetting Adesanya to claim middleweight gold at UFC 281. But Adesanya got the last laugh, when he knocked out “Poatan” in the second round of their MMA match. Rematch at UFC 287 this past April.
A potential third meeting at the Octagon is on hold for the time being, as Pereira is set to face Jan Blachowicz in his 205-pound debut at UFC 291 on July 29. Meanwhile, Adesanya is expected to face the winner of the UFC 290 encounter between Robert Whitaker and Dricos du Plessis for his upcoming middleweight title defense.