Alex Pereira Says Israel Adesanya Will Have To Go To WWE After He Loses At UFC 287

On the heels of the WWE Endeavor sale announcement and news of a merger between WWE and the UFC, Dana White's company is set to hold a massive rematch with the Middleweight Championship on the line Saturday night in Miami for the first time in 20 years. UFC 287 will be headlined by a grudge match between current champion Alex Pereira and former champion Israel Adesanya. As the epic clash gets closer and closer, the trash talk has started to heat up.

During an interview with ESPN MMA, the current UFC Middleweight Champion was joined by a translator and was asked about the WWE joining the Endeavor family. In response, Pereira gave a prediction for Saturday night's bout, speculating what'll happen to his opponent after he loses in back-to-back fights.

"Well, that's nice, the UFC is always looking out for their fighters," Pereira said in response to the merger news. "The way that I see it is it's a place for Adesanya, right because, after this fight ... he already lost at light heavyweight [a reference to his loss at UFC 259 against Jan Blachowicz], so it's a place for him to go."

Despite all the hype around the merger, the Brazilian fighter said he doesn't see himself joining the WWE in the future, but he reiterates that it's a place for his opponent to go after their fight on Saturday. 

Almost immediately after the news of the merger, betting odds for future appearances from UFC fighters in WWE came out, with Adesanya coming in at +2500, and Pereira landing at +5000. In the past,Adesanya has shown an interest in WWE, paying homage to The Undertaker at UFC 276 by coming out to the WWE Hall of Famer's iconic entrance.