Dana White plans to find new opponents for Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, avoiding an immediate third UFC meeting between the two.
Dana White has plans for Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, but those plans don’t include an immediate third UFC meeting between the two. Just a week after Adesanya’s knockout victory over Pereira at UFC 288 to reclaim the middleweight title, White was asked at the UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference about the promotion’s plans for Adesanya’s next fight. Adesanya’s popularity soared following a long-awaited victory over Pereira, after three losses to “Poatan” across MMA and kickboxing, prompting talk of a potential rematch in the cage.
However, Pereira himself shot down the possibility of another face-off earlier this week when he announced his decision to move up to the light heavyweight division. As a result, White is now prioritizing finding an opponent for Pereira in that weight class. “You put him in title contention and then he has to beat someone to even be considered in title contention,” White said. “He’s got to move to 205 and beat a real guy, so that’s what we’re looking at right now, getting a real guy.”
As for Adesanya, White is enthusiastic about the prospect of him fighting again soon and mentioned that “The Last Stylebender” is already eager to return to action. “I said this before and I’ll say it again, at the last press conference in Miami, this guy was already blowing Hunter and the boys up, ‘When’s my next fight? When’s my next fight? I want to fight again. I want to fight again,'” White shared. “I love that about Israel Adesanya. He wants to fight non-stop, constantly, and he wants to fight everybody. We’re working on that and he’ll fight again soon, maybe before the end of the summer.”
Several opponents have lined up to take on Adesanya, including Dricus Du Plessis, Khamzat Chimaev, and past opponent Jan Blachowicz. However, White stated it’s too early to determine who will face Adesanya for his first title defense of his second reign. “Not yet,” White said. “Or I would have announced it.”