Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya has backed claims that his bitter rival, Alex Pereira, uses black magic to win fights.

Adesanya made this statement after Jiri Prochazka, who has lost twice to Pereira, accused the Brazilian of using black magic and rituals to ensure his victories.

The Brazilian is Adesanya’s biggest rival, and the two have faced each other four times—twice in kickboxing and twice in MMA. Adesanya lost both kickboxing matches to Pereira before transitioning to MMA.

(R-L) Israel Adesanya knocks out Alex Pereira in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 287 event at Kaseya Center. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Pereira later joined Adesanya in the UFC and handed the Nigerian his first MMA defeat.

However, that defeat was avenged in Miami, where the Stylebender knocked out Pereira to reclaim his middleweight title.

Afterward, Pereira moved up to light heavyweight, becoming a two-division champion.

With the upcoming fight against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307, Adesanya doubled down on his belief that Pereira uses “juju” ahead of his fights, and predicts he will do so again before facing Rountree.

“You know what Jiri said about the whole juju thing? That’s real,” Adesanya said during an appearance on the JRE MMA show.

“The guy beat me at Madison Square Garden, the biggest arena on the planet, just like he beat me before in Brazil.

“I was beating him, had him hurt at the end of the first round, but then he got me in the last round.

“It’s something spiritual—his ancestors or his people praying for him. But I’ve got my own prayer warriors too. My mum and dad fast, and I’ve got people in the spirit world praying for me as well.

Israel Adesanya reacts after knocking out the Brazilian. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“There’s just something about the way he carries himself. He knows how to recover well.

“So after he knocked me out at Madison Square Garden, I was like, ‘Let’s do that s*** again, Dana [White].’”