Israel Adesanya Defends Mocking Alex Pereira's Son, Says He Taught Him A Life Lesson

Photo: Instagram/Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya has defended his decision to mock Alex Pereira's 12-year-old son following the UFC 287 knockout, claiming he had taught the child a life lesson.

Adesanya imitated Pereira's son, Alessandro, who had mocked Adesanya after his 2017 kickboxing defeat. Some fans criticised Adesanya for his behaviour as the child appeared to be in tears after his father's defeat.

However, Adesanya defended his actions, saying that he did the child a favour by teaching him manners and respect. He also claimed that Pereira lacked the discipline to scold his son for mocking him in public.

Photo: Instagram/Israel Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira in round 2 of their UFC rematch.

Adesanya stated that if he had a son who mocked a defeated opponent in public, he would have him apologise to that person. He insisted that he would continue to teach children manners and respect when parents failed to do so.

Pereira has won two kickboxing fights against Adesanya and took the UFC middleweight title from him in 2022. Their rivalry remains intense, and a trilogy fight in MMA is a possibility.

Pereira commented that he would not have done the same as Adesanya and did not know how his son felt.

Pereira had seen his son influenced by others before the fight and admitted that he had teased him in the past.

Adesanya had referred to this incident on his YouTube channel, stating that he had seen Alessandro and his sister crying in the crowd and decided to teach the child a lesson.

The Last Stylebender believed that the child would hold on to this life lesson forever. He insisted that he had done nothing wrong and was happy to have taught the child a lesson.

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Source: Daily Mail