You Are Ready to Kill… But Are You Prepared to Die?
November 13, 2022. New York. The combat sports Mecca, the legendary Madison Square Garden. On the line — the title of the UFC Middleweight Champion of the world. Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya vs. Alex “Poatan” Pereira. The end of the fifth and final round.
This is Adesanya and Pereira’s third meeting. Before transitioning to MMA, both athletes had brilliant careers in kickboxing: Israel was the GLORY Middleweight Championship contender, while Alex was the one and only fighter to simultaneously hold belts in the promotion’s both Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. And it was the GLORY ring where two of these combat sports titans met for the first time. Both of these fights were won by Alex Pereira: the first one by unanimous decision, the second — by a vicious left-hook KO in the third round.
After his second loss to Pereira, Israel Adesania decides to leave kickboxing and continue his professional career in Mixed Martial Arts. After winning several fights in smaller organizations, he joins the UFC and in just 2 years becomes the promotion’s Middleweight Champion.
It seems like Adesanya’s previous defeats have been outweighed by the success of this new chapter of his life: globally, MMA is a much more popular sport. Being a UFC champion, in most cases, means significant income, as well as a certain level of celebrity and prestige. Sports experts are predicting Adesanya’s meteoric rise. Young, flashy, well-spoken — Israel Adesanya becomes one of the most highly paid athletes in the sport of MMA, signs an unprecedented sponsorship contract with Puma, and ends up on the cover of the UFC 4 computer game. Meanwhile, Alex Pereira (busy capturing and defending two kickboxing championship titles) is largely unknown to the world. And this is where this story, worthy of a ‘Rocky’ movie-like script, begins.
After yet another impressive MMA win, Israel Adesanya gives an interview to one of the sports outlets, where he mentions Pereira. When asked about his former foe, Adesanya says that he isn’t bothered by his previous losses, as he feels like he has already achieved far more than the man who has defeated him in the past. Israel then doubles down and says that when it’s all said and done, irrelevant and unknown Pereira will be drinking somewhere at a bar, see Adesanya’s face on the TV screen, and the only thing that Alex will ever be able to say is that once, many years ago, he has defeated this man in the ring.
Ironically, Alex Pereira not only sees this interview but remembers it and uses it for motivation. Motivation to do what? To go into MMA, of course. Yes, just like his former rival, Pereira leaves professional kickboxing and soon joins the UFC… where, after winning 3 fights in a row, he gets the unprecedented chance to face Adesanya again — this time, in the octagon. It’s important to note that by this time Israel Adesanya has not only captured the Middleweight belt but has successfully defended it against some of the best fighters in the division’s history. Sports analysts don’t give Alex Pereira even the slightest chance of winning — too large is the gap in these two athletes’ MMA experience. Too large is the difference between kickboxing and MMA. As always, sports analysts look at the odds through the cold prism of logic and rationale. As always, they are wrong.
November 13, fight night. The match is going exactly as predicted: by the last round Adesanya is comfortably winning 3 rounds to 1. But the sport of MMA has a particular love for dramatic moments.
Before the beginning of the fifth round, the camera gives us the usual close-up shot of Israel Adesanya: confident, he nods at Pereira — he knows that in just 5 minutes he will rewrite the worst chapter of his professional career. The camera then moves on to Alex Pereira’s face. Slight movement of the lips… and a phrase that feels like a bullet: “I will kill you”.
Here I’d like to pause and rewind to Israel Adesanya’s fight against Kelvin Gastelum, where at the beginning of the last round he says out loud “I am ready to die”. Three years later, the main antagonist of his life is put in an absolutely identical situation but chooses to go into it with a radically opposite approach. And, in the last minute of the final round, defeats Israel Adesanya for the third time.
Someone may think that this story was scripted. However, one look at Alex Pereira is enough to understand — at that moment, that phrase was a true expression of his emotions. In fact, it’s safe to say that Alex Pereira and scripted stories have no point of intersection. He is just that guy: tough, stone-cold, and lethal. The boy from the favela. The one who was born for battle, who lives and breathes fighting. He doesn’t go into the octagon to put on a show or fall like a hero — a real warrior, his only objective is the absolute destruction of his enemy.
Fast forward to February 2024. GLORY Hall of Fame inductee, Alex Pereira is still the only man to capture and hold titles in the organization’s two weight classes simultaneously. Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Pereira now reigns over the promotion’s Light Heavyweight division.
And one can’t help but wonder: when you are this prepared to kill, maybe you really don’t have to be ready to die.
