When Alex Pereira joined the UFC as an MMA neophyte in 2021, the thought of him chasing down his old kickboxing rival-turned-UFC champion Israel Adesanya was pure fantasy. But the Brazilian held two wins over Adesanya from the pair's kickboxing days, proving he was a worthy stylistic matchup should he implausibly climb that mountain.

Pereira ultimately exceeded the middleweight summit, battling Adesanya twice more in MMA and going 1-1 with his rival. Now the champion at light heavyweight, Pereira does not expect an MMA trilogy, nor does Adesanya. During an in-studio appearance Monday on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Pereira expressed his respect for Adesanya and a desire to join forces in the training room together in the future, admitting he likely wouldn't be where he is today without such a strong rival.

After hearing those words, Adesanya shared a similar sentiment on Tuesday's edition of the program.

"I feel the same way. I think God blessed me with a great opponent like Alex Pereira," Adesanya said. "He blessed me with a great challenge like that. And it's easy to say that now on this side, but f*ck, it takes a lot to take on that man. And I always knew that we would have history and I always knew I could best him, and I'm glad God blessed me with that challenge to be able to rise to the occasion.

"I'm glad we can kind of share [our respect now]. Even when we ran into each other at the airport like, what, two years ago, three years ago — we were still kind of beefing, but there was a little [respect there]. This is before he fought Jan [Blachowicz]. We had a little conversation after the TSA at LAX or whatever and then went our ways, and it was a cordial, civil conversation with a limited language barrier.

"But I respect the guy, and I want the best for him. I like what he's doing. I like the fact that he's running through everyone because, again, it just shows how good he is."

"Definitely," Adesanya added about potentially training together in the future. "Again, these things happen organically. You can't [force it]. It happens organically. So when it happens and the stars align — if it happens, but it hasn't yet — yeah, I'll be open to it."

Pereira isn't the only former rival Adesanya has warmed up to in his more veteran days. In fact, he's grown significantly closer with another fellow former champion than he likely ever expected.

Adesanya and Robert Whittaker recently trained together for the first time ahead of Adesanya's return on Saturday against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia. The unexpected partnership comes in the wake of their heated championship rivalry, which Adesanya and Whittaker competed in from 2019-22, with Adesanya winning both bouts.

When Whittaker reflected with Uncrowned on the duo's recent union, he recalled how he would've probably "hit Adesanya with a car" if he could've at the height of their feud.

Adesanya isn't sure he'd have gone that far, but he certainly sees the evolution of their relationship and is enjoying it.

"I don't know if I would have hit him with a car, but I definitely would have hit him," Adesanya said with a laugh. "I would have hit him. I'm just happy he pulled up, I'm happy he came through. I'm happy he just shared his energy with the [City Kickboxing] gym, his skills. And we're just two chill guys, eh?

“We sat down at my house and we were doing the breakdown [video], but it was like, we're kind of just chilling with [my brother] David and my boy Matt, and we were just talking sh*t. And even after the cameras were off, we had a little bit of just chin wag, and it was just cool. Again, why would I hate someone who was on the same journey as me or a similar journey as me? Because I understand what he's trying to do or what he's done, because he has done it — one of the first to do it from the Anzacs.

"So yeah, I always have respect for him, but now I have so much love for the guy, and I can't wait until we work together more in the future.”

For his next time out, Adesanya competes in a non-title bout for the first time since he defeated Anderson Silva via unanimous decision in early 2019. He looks to snap a two-fight losing skid with his headlining bout against Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia.

"I want to compete at the highest level because I still feel like I am the best. I'll prove that," Adesanya said. "Again, I'm quietly confident with my skills and the work I've put in for this fight, so I cannot wait to just go in there and just do the work. Then people are going to be on my d*** again, like, 'Oh my God, he's this, he's that, he's amazing.' Because that's the game we're in.

"You have one loss and, 'Ah, he should retire, he's done, he's washed.' And then you go in there and smoke someone [and that love is back]. And this is not the first time this has happened in the UFC, they said it to me a couple times before in the past, 'Oh God, he's done, he should retire.' But I don't listen, I just again do what I want to do."