Bummed.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) two-division champion Alex Pereira had his dream of becoming a three-division champion crushed when multi-time Heavyweight title challenger Ciryl Gane stopped him in the second round to win the interim Heavyweight title last night (Sun., June 14, 2026) at UFC Freedom 250 live on Paramount+ on the South Lawn in Washington, D.C (watch highlights).
And longtime rival-turned-friendIsrael Adesanya was locked into the co-main event.
Like a lot of “Poatan” fans, he ended up being pretty disappointed.
“Ciryl is no slouch, but f—k,” Adesanya said. “Dare to be great, [Pereira] is a one-of-one. He’s a great. You can’t fault him.”
Check out Adesanya’s reaction below:
Adesanya knows a thing or two about trying to be great and coming up short. In 2021, “The Last Stylebender” moved up to Light Heavyweight in an attempt to become a UFC “champ-champ,” but lost a unanimous decision to Jan Blachowicz after being outgrappled.
So, yeah, he knows the risk that comes with chasing history.
That is what makes Adesanya’s reaction pretty cool. These two were heated rivals for years, dating all the way back to their kickboxing days. Pereira beat Adesanya twice in kickboxing, then followed him to UFC, knocked him out again, and took the Middleweight title from him.
Adesanya finally got his revenge at UFC 287, knocking Pereira out cold to reclaim the belt and close one of the most intense combat sports rivalries of this era (watch highlights).
But somewhere along the way, the hate faded.
Now, there seems to be real respect between the two former enemies. Adesanya has repeatedly praised Pereira’s career, and Pereira has done the same for him. And after watching “Poatan” fall short in his bid to make UFC history, Adesanya did not gloat or take a victory lap.
He gave him his flowers.
Because love him or hate him, Pereira dared to be great.
And Adesanya understands exactly what that means.
For complete UFC Freedom 250 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
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