Israel Adesanya doubles down on mocking Alex Pereira’s young teen son at UFC 287: ‘I did that kid a favor’

Israel Adesanya’s post-fight celebration at UFC 287 after knocking out Alex Pereira was pretty iconic. “The Last Stylebender” stood over his vanquished opponent and mimed firing three arrows into his chest, one for every victory “Poatan” held over him.

His next move was a little more controversial: he looked for Pereira’s teenage son in the crowd, pointed at him, and then fell to the canvas, imitating his father getting knocked out.

In Adesanya’s defense, the kid had done something similar to him when Pereira knocked him out in Brazil several years earlier. But, this is a child who a professional fighter is mocking.

Does Izzy have any regrets about the moment? Nope.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Adesanya doubled down on his decision to mock Pereira’s son, describing the moment as “a life lesson.”

“I was just like, ‘Where is he? I’m going to find him,’” Adesanya described (via Sportskeeda). “And I see his kid then his sister, I think, was holding them. She was holding them because they were crying. So I was just like, bang!

“‘He’s only a kid!’ I’m like, ‘And the f— what?’” Adesanya continued. “If I had a son and he came to the cage after 287 and then start to do that next to Pereira, I’d be like, ‘What the f— are you doing? Come here. Apologize — apologize to that man.’”

“Guy knocked me out in his home country and then you see your kid doing that and you don’t have the discipline to scold him and then again before 281, you’re in your car and you’re like, ‘Look what my son did.’ If you’re not going to teach your kids manners and respect, I will.

“I did him a favor,” Adesanya concluded. “I did that kid a favor. Now, he has a life lesson that he can hold on to forever and just remember that. I’m glad I did it. F— them kids.”

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