The universe, it seems, continues to place longtime rivals Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira together.

The two world champion fighters have met in the combat sports arena on no less than four separate occasions — twice each in kickboxing and mixed martial arts — with Brazil’s Pereira holding a 3-1 advantage overall, but Adesanya having the most recent bragging rights following his stunning second-round knockout of the former middleweight titleholder in Florida last month.

But while it remains to be seen if they ever fight one another again, on Monday both fighters posted footage to social media of what appeared to be an impromptu meeting in an airport security line  — which also contained the reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

In July, Pereira will make his UFC light heavyweight debut when he takes on the only other fighter on the organisation’s roster to hold a win over Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz,. ‘The Last Stylebender’, meanwhile, is widely expected to fight the winner of the upcoming middleweight title eliminator between Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis which is set for the July 8 UFC 290 card in Las Vegas.

“On Saturday, July 8 at UFC 290, we have a middleweight title eliminator,” White said announcing the bout last month. “The former champion Robert Whittaker – whose only losses in the last nine years are to the champ Israel Adesanya – he will be taking on Dricus du Plessis.

“Du Plessis has won seven straight fights and finished six of them. The winner of that fight will fight Adesanya later this year. And that fight is targeted for Sydney, Australia. That’s just one fight that’s part of what’s going to be part of a huge International Fight Week.”