Dana White has high hopes for Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira: “I f*cking guarantee you it’ll be bat-sh*t nuts”

UFC President Dana White thinks fight fans are in for a treat when Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira collide inside the Octagon.

Adesanya is the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion. While Adesanya’s lone pro MMA loss was a unanimous decision against Jan Blachowicz, he suffered two kickboxing defeats to Pereira. Their last encounter ended in a brutal knockout.

With Pereira coming off a highlight-reel knockout over Sean Strickland, it appears he has catapulted himself into title contention.

Speaking to reporters during the UFC Long Island post-fight press conference, Dana White guaranteed that Adesanya vs. Pereira would tear the house down (h/t MMAJunkie).

“When you’re sitting here in my position, you can’t give too many guarantees,” White said Saturday during the UFC on ABC 3 post-event news conference. “I can say, ‘Stylistically on paper this should be,’ you know, or, ‘We feel this is gonna be’ – I f*cking guarantee you. I absolutely, positively guarantee you that the next fight that Israel Adesanya fights will be bat-sh*t nuts.”

As far as Adesanya’s last performance against Jared Cannonier is concerned, the UFC boss is confident that fans won’t see that level of inactivity against Pereira.

“He won,” White said. “I mean, I don’t know if it was the performance that he wanted to give or that he was selling leading into that fight. The other thing is I don’t think his opponent was very aggressive, either. It takes two to make a great fight. …

“It won’t happen in the next fight.”

Adesanya hasn’t exactly had a dazzling showing since his Sept. 2020 bout with Paulo Costa. “The Last Stylebender” was dominant in that fight, scoring a second-round TKO finish. All of his bouts have since gone the distance and fans are hoping to see “Izzy” pushed to the brink against Pereira.