Pereira has gone again at his long time rival Adesanya, saying the advice he gave Hill won’t help

Israel Adesanya will need to ‘earn’ another crack at his long time rival Alex Pereira, with the current light-heavyweight champ saying the former middleweight king will need to climb the ranks first.

Alex Pereira had a few things to say about Israel Adesanya this week. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

That’s light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s thoughts on Jamahal Hill getting tips from Israel Adesanya on how to fight him, as the Brazilian knockout artist directed another scathing attack at his longtime Kiwi rival.

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Pereira will make the first defence of his light-heavyweight title against former 205-pound champion Hill at UFC 300 in Las Vegas this weekend.

Hill, who was forced to vacate the title last year after an Achilles injury, this week revealed that he spoke with Adesanya about how to fight Pereira.

Adesanya and Pereira split their two UFC fights to date, but ‘Poatan’ owns two wins over ‘Stylebender’ from their kickboxing days.

Pereira and Adesanya are 1-1 in the two middleweight title fights they’ve fought. Picture: Getty Images

When asked about Hill’s video calls with Adesanya ahead of their headline fight this weekend, Pereira was blunt.

“I think it might be good in his mind,” he told this masthead. “Mentally, it might be good for him.

“But a lot of people have things that work for them mentally.

“When it comes to the fight, he’s going to know that it didn’t help much.”

Pereira even hinted that Hill would have been out of his depth training with Adesanya in person rather than speaking to him on the phone.

“I think the best thing he did was to call him on video,” he said. “If he went over there and trained with Adesanya, he would’ve been very frustrated.

“He would’ve felt lost training with a guy that I’ve beaten three times.”

Pereira stopped Jiri Prochazka to claim the vacant light-heavyweight title last year. Picture: Getty Images

Pereira made an iconic call out of Adesanya moments after winning the light-heavyweight title at UFC 295 in November.

With his second world title strapped around his waist, Pereira – who usually speaks through an interpreter – grabbed the microphone and said in English: “Hey, Adesanya, come to daddy.”

The stage seemed set for them to meet at UFC 300, but the Brazilian said he didn’t hear anything from Adesanya’s camp or from the UFC.

And now, Pereira says Adesanya must earn his shot at the light-heavyweight belt if he ever wants to fight him.

“I’ll say it like he said it to me,” he told this masthead. “If he moves up in weight, he’s going to have to have a few more fights before he comes and challenges me.

“He said the same thing to me when I came to the UFC. So I’ll say the same thing to him now. He needs to work his way to a title shot against me.”

Jamahal Hill (R) beat Pereira’s mentor, Glover Teixeira, for the 205-pound belt. Picture: Getty Images

Pereira has a tough task ahead of him at UFC 300 though.

Hill’s only professional loss came in 2021 when Paul Craig snapped his left arm in two in the first round. Hill refused to tap out, only losing when the referee stepped in.

He bounced back with three consecutive stoppage finishes, before landing a title shot against Glover Teixeira in January 2023.

Hill won a five round war for the title, but was later forced to vacate when he ruptured his Achilles playing basketball.

There have been rumours about whether he has fully recovered, but Pereira says it makes no difference.

“I’m going to follow my game,” he said. “I’m going to throw kicks because that’s how I win fights – that’s what I do well.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s injured.

“He signed to fight, he accepted and there’s nobody better than him to say he’s doing well.

“He’s dangerous, his strength and experience make him dangerous. The main thing is being careful not to take his punches and not to feel his strength.”

Originally published as Pereira has gone again at his long time rival Adesanya, saying the advice he gave Hill won’t help