Alex Pereira was all smiles alongside his former foe Israel Adesanya at UFC 312.
The pair linked up at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, where fans, battling the morning blues, showed their love for MMA Down Under.
The card in Sydney started at 10.30am local time, but you could hardly tell the difference as those in attendance provided a similar, if not better atmosphere than typical UFC cards in America.
In fact, UFC legend and British MMA icon Michael Bisping, who was working at the event as a commentator said: “The energy in here is ridiculous.” ahead of the main card.
Pereira, 37 is a two-division UFC champion, having knocked out Adesanya, 35, to claim middleweight gold back in November 2022.
He then went on to claim the light heavyweight title, moving up a division to defeat Jiri Prochazka following a KO loss to the Nigeria-born New Zealand fighter in their rematch.
Pereira and Adesanya have faced each other a total of four times in combat sports.
The last two outings came in the UFC and the first two in Chinese kickboxing promotion, Glory of Heroes, where Pereira won both bouts in 2016 and 2017.
Both men were in attendance with a keen eye on UFC 312’s main event, as Pereira’s training partner, Sean Strickland, challenged Dricus Du Plessis in a rematch for the middleweight title.
Adesanya knows how it feels to step into the octagon with both men, as they make up two of his last three losses in Dana White‘s promotion.
‘The Last Stylebender’ has suffered three straight UFC defeats, with a loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia at the beginning of his month being his most recent.
Pereira took to X during the prelims at UFC 312 to share a straight-faced photo of himself alongside Adesanya and one of his coaches Plinio Cruz.
The caption read: “Chama,” which translates to ‘let’s go’ or ‘come on’ when being used as slang, and is Pereira’s trademark response he often uses when speaking to the media.
UFC fans all over the world were quick with their responses to the new-found friendship.
One took to X and wrote: “Legendary photo.”
While another said: “Australia is blessed. Monumental picture.”
A third added: “Alex and Izzy should start training together. They could really make each other better.”
Adesanya also shared the pictures on his X account, including one with the pair smiling and another edited to show both men on a rollercoaster.
He made headlines last month for similar reasons when he shared photos alongside another former rival in Robert Whittaker.
The two ex-UFC champions were spotted sparring in training footage released by Adesanya, who has shared the octagon with Whittaker twice.
They then sat down on a podcast with one another to discuss the card at UFC 312.
Adesanya was crowned the UFC’s middleweight champion for the first time after knocking out Whittaker during a record-breaking bout in October 2019.
Their first fight headlined UFC 243 in Australia, as both New Zealand representatives threw down in an all-Oceanic region title fight.
The event holds the record for the most attended UFC card in the organisation’s history as 57,127 fans packed into the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
The pair then met against at UFC 271 in February 2022, with Adesanya winning the bout via unanimous decision.
Many fans have wondered if Adesanya’s best days are now behind him following his latest defeat to Imavov.