Before getting his topknot kicked crooked at UFC 303, Jiří Procházka accused Pereira of using “magic” and “spells” to win their previous fight, which is as hilarious as it is bizarre. But on the off chance that’s it’s true, Pereira’s GOAT resume could benefit from a spell that grants Izzy the courage to give 205 a second chance.
In 2021, following a decision loss in his debut light heavyweight bout against then-champion Jan Błachowicz, Adesanya spoke one of his favorite idioms: “Dare to be great.” It’s a saying he’s repeated since, sometimes followed by an affirmation: “And I am.” He said this at a time in his career when language was his own sort of magic, a narrativizing force so powerful it’d turn the world into a manga page and bend destiny into the shape of the anime arc in his head. Somewhere along the way, though, perhaps even before getting beat up by Strickland and choked out by DDP, Adesanya stopped daring to be great and now prefers to assume he already his.
Given the “last goal wins” attitude he’s taken after finally defeating Pereira in his fourth try in two sports, it’s clear, at least to me, what’s stopping the two from completing their MMA trilogy: Adesanya wants no parts of Poatan’s full power at light heavyweight. Despite being visibly more muscular than he was the first time he moved up, having absolutely no interesting matchups left for him at middeweight, and potentially having a better chance against a striker at 205 than he did against a wrestler like Błachowicz, the former champion seems content avoiding another fight with his nemesis. In turn, this makes both of their claims to greatness seem slightly less daring.
Sure, Pereira’s move to heavyweight could and should happen with or without an MMA tie-breaker with Adesanya. But imagine how much more special it’d be if it came after an ancient Brazilian ritual granted Izzy his former spirit and compelled him to complete the greatest UFC rivalry in the modern era.