Alex Pereira has called out Israel Adesanya after becoming a two-weight champion at UFC 295.
The former middleweight titleholder knocked out Jiri Prochazka in controversial circumstances.
Referee Marc Goddard saw enough to stop the contest at 4:08 in the second round.
Replays appeared to show Prochazka making it back to his feet rather quickly but Pereira felt like the stoppage was justified.
“I’m not surprised,” Pereira said afterwards.
“After the first left hook and another one, he fell down to my legs. I don’t believe it was a bad stoppage. It’s a great honor for me.”
Following the win, Pereira quickly turned his attention to old foe Israel Adesanya with hopes to revive their rivalry — this time in the light heavyweight division.
“I’m not the type of guy to call people out but there’s a guy that back in the day [who] did some interviews and said I was a guy who was just going to stay in the bar,” Pereira said.
“That motivated me. He rescued me from a bar to be here today. This guy said he just wants to come back and fight in 2027. I think he’s a very talented guy. It’s a waste of talent so I want to rescue him too, to come here and fight.
“I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me to and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight. I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy.”
