UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya talked about the advice he gave to his former opponent, Brazilian Alex Pereira, before his fight with Pole Jan Blachowicz on July 30 at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City (USA).
He's fighting the guy, first MMA loss for me, when I went up to 205 (pounds). Through our limited conversation skills, because of his English and my Portuguese, we kinda had the same idea of what's gonna happen. But I had to let him know, I thought the same thing when I fought Jan. I thought Jan was gonna attack me a little bit more but he was patient. So I kinda let him (Pereira) know, you be patient too. I didn't wanna say too much, but yeah.
Israel Adesanya, quoted by Middle Easy
Blachowicz had his last fight against Magomed Ankalaev in December, 2022, at UFC 282. This fight lasted the whole distance and ended in a draw by split decision. Jan has 29 wins, nine losses and one draw under his belt.
Pereira made his last appearance in the Octagon against Israel Adesanya on UFC 287 last April. That fight ended in a second-round knockout loss to Alex. He has seven wins and two losses under his belt.