“This is not kickboxing, this is MMA. No big fat gloves here, just a four-ounce lethal weapon that I can't wait to run across Pereira's face after I've dealt with Cannonier. I don't like the talk that Pereira is too early to fight for the title. Look at Prochazka - he recently fought for the belt and won it in his third fight in the UFC. Anderson Silva became the champion in the second fight. So it's all right. He is new to MMA and I have been in this game for a long time, but the TikTok generation has a 15 second memory. They only see the knockout, but they didn’t watch my first fight with Pereira, nor the second one to the finish line.”
Recall that Pereira and Adesanya met twice in the ring according to kickboxing rules, and both fights were won by the Brazilian. Moreover, he won one of the fights ahead of schedule.