Pereira compares legacies with Adesanya: ‘What matters is how you inspire’

Alex Pereira isn’t too worried about where he stands compared to his longtime rival Israel Adesanya in the minds of fans.

During a recent interview with Laerte Vian, “Poatan” was asked how he felt his legacy stacked up against “The Last Stylebender.” Pereira holds a 3-1 record over Adesanya in combat sports, but the Brazilian didn’t even bring that up when discussing their resumes.

“You have to see what criteria people are using,” he said. “Adesanya made several title defenses, you know? I couldn’t defend the middleweight belt. So how much is that worth? Let’s try to put that into a score, how much is it worth? Maybe it’s worth, I don’t know, ten points for him, and my championship run is worth two.”

“But there are things I did, like damn, I became a double champion. He tried [to become one], but didn’t. Maybe that’s worth ten points for me, two for him. Or maybe it’s worth, I don’t know, ten for me, eight for him. You have to see what the criteria are for this game.”

“But I don’t know, man,” he concluded. “Seriously. And I’m not worried about it because I think it doesn’t matter what classification they give you. What matters is what you do and how you inspire people. And I think I’m doing it very well.”

With his current run at light heavyweight, Alex Pereira shucked off his label as Israel Adesanya’s nemesis and has become one of the biggest stars in the UFC. Despite being one of the scariest looking dudes in the cage, he keeps surprising us with these extremely level-headed and ego-free positions during interviews.

He refuses to take the bait when it comes to discussing Adesanya, even when it involved Izzy insulting his children. That definitely earns him an extra ten points in our books.