Video: Poatan brutalizes sparring partner, sends Izzy a message
Middleweight champion Alex Pereira had a little teasing message for rival Israel Adesanya ahead of their rematch in April.
The UFC middleweight champion looks like he might be playing a few mind games ahead of his first title defense. While preparing for his rematch against long time rival Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira posted a sparring video on Instagram to show how his camp has been coming along so far.
Though the footage itself presents nothing out of the ordinary (beyond that poor man getting ripped up with body shots), the caption ‘Poatan’ wrote tells a different tale. In it, the Brazilian wrote Adesanya’s date of birth next to a star emoji and then followed it up with the date of their rematch, next to a coffin emoji.
Seems like Adesanya may want to make sure his affairs are in order come UFC 287.
Having already defeated Adesanya twice before in his kickboxing days, Pereira (7-1) will look to do it for the second time in the Octagon as well—all while extending his current win streak to five straight. Before beating the ‘Last Stylebender’, the 35-year-old defeated Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva and Sean Strickland.
Pereira is expected to face Adesanya at UFC 287’s headliner, on April 8. The card is scheduled to take place in Miami, Florida. Alongside the middleweight main event a welterweight top-contender’s bout between Gilbert Burns and