There are hardly any two rivals quite like Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, whose fighting careers are intertwined. From a kickboxing rivalry from their time at GLORY to their ultimate showdowns at UFC under the brightest of lights. The level of competition between Adesanya and Pereira was on a level like no other, but it seems like things have calmed down a bit between these two star athletes.

During the time as rivals, they may have tried to downplay each other’s chances of winning, but it was purely in the spirit of competition. They never got too personal with their trash talk, so does that mean they’re on good terms? Well, here’s what we know.

Kickboxing and UFC rivalry of Alex Pereira & Israel Adesanya

As we’ve mentioned already, Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya were in the same promotion, GLORY, where they made their names in kickboxing. When ‘Izzy’ fought in a 3-round fight for the first time in Glory of Heroes 1, he saw ‘Poatan’ standing across him as the opponent—and while he did fairly well, even hurting the Brazilian on occasion, got handed a decision loss. He would suffer the same fate against Pereira in their Glory of Heroes 7 rematch, losing the fight via knockout in the third round.

While Alex Pereira would go on to win two belts in GLORY, Israel Adesanya started to make waves in the UFC. But one single interview, where the former 2-time champion claimed ‘Poatan’ would be “just another guy in a bar talking about how he once beat Adesanya” after his UFC move, changed everything. Pereira was all ears after hearing Adesanya’s words, and he just had to make his way into the UFC for a couple of big-time clashes against the Nigerian-born in Dana White‘s promotion.

As fate would have it, ‘The Last Stylebender’ lost his UFC belt to the Brazilian in their first encounter at UFC 281. However, he’d get back to being a champ after reclaiming the belt with a knockout win at UFC 287 and handing Alex Pereira his only UFC defeat—an achievement that not even light heavyweights have been able to touch. Also, Adesanya’s celebration was one for the history books that night, but the animosity cooled off thereafter between the two stars.

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira bury their beef?

Following the two exciting encounters inside the Octagon, Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira continued to take aim at each other on social media, but whenever it came to talking about each other’s fighter prowess, they’d deem each other as ‘warriors’. Hence, it felt as if these social media jibes didn’t have much malice. It was finally confirmed that there was no more beef between Adesanya and Pereira after they were spotted sitting together amongst the crowd at UFC 312.

Claiming that being a hater is not his cup of tea, ‘Izzy’ stated, “With all these guys, what’s hating Alex or hating Rob or anyone else do for me? It doesn’t serve me at all. It’s just poisoning myself. I’m holding onto hate in my heart for someone that’s moved on. So why would I do that? I’m not that kind of person. I’m just a chill guy,” during an interview at UFC 312.

Furthermore, when pictures surfaced of both Israel Adesanya sharing a laugh with Alex Pereira, it not only went viral, but it also cemented the fact that they’ve settled their differences. It seems like ‘Izzy’ has a knack for getting on good terms with his rivals after finishing their cage business and has even opted to rain with them. He did that with Robert Whittaker. But will he also he train with Pereira? Let’s find out.

Do Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya train together?

Well, Adesanya and Pereira have never trained together in the past—not in China, nor in the US. But that could change pretty soon! After bumping into ‘Izzy’ at UFC 312 and developing a a bit of a friendship with his former rival, ‘Poatan’ decided to ask the former 2-time champion if he’d like to come and train with him. He claims that they can mutually benefit from each other.

“Let’s get together, let’s make this partnership happen. I have a lot to show you, and you have a lot to show me,” Alex Pereira was seen saying in a video Israel Adesanya posted on his YouTube channel. Former champion Sean Strickland has done it, so what’s stopping ‘The Last Stylebender’? It will be interesting to see if he takes the help from Pereira given that he’s on a 3-fight losing skid.

Let us know what you think about the turnaround of Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya’s relationship from rivals to friends. Drop your comments below.