Madison Square Garden, NEW YORK – The Brazilian Mixed Martial Artist, Alex Pereira, gets his third victory against one of the best strikers in UFC, Israel Adesanya. Pereira, 35, is the only fighter to defeat Adesanya by knockout, and he did it not only once, but twice!
The two have met twice (in 2016 and 2017) in a Chinese kickboxing league named “Glory of Heroes”. There, the two butt heads with each other and fought very hard to come out on top. However, their first match was somehow controversial wherein Pereira gets the winning decision despite Adesanya’s incredible performance. Then, the second bout happened. Pereira did the impossible and knocked out Adesanya. He is also the first to ever knock out Israel Adesanya in his career. No one has since ever knocked out Adesanya except for the Brazilian kickboxer.
PEREIRA DOES THE UNTHINKABLE!! 😱
HE KOs ADESANYA AGAIN!! #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/YiNrtkrVFY
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
Alex Pereira becomes the new UFC Middle Weight Champion
In just his fourth fight in the UFC, Pereira overcame all odds by taking the Middle Weight championship belt from Adesanya. Israel Adesanya or commonly known as Izzy has been the second longest reigning Middle Weight champion. The Nigerian fighter has held the title for more than three (3) years and had a successful 5-title defense until his demise against Pereira on UFC 281. The longest reigning Middle Weight champion was no other than Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who held the title for more than 6 years.
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All in all, Pereira has a total of 8 MMA matches which he lost only once (7-1). On the other hand, Adesanya now has a record of 23-2.
Why did Adesanya lose?
The fight looked like it was all for Adesanya’s taking until the unimaginable happened. Before the fifth round started, Izzy was leading the judges’ scoreboard, 39-37. It was all going so well for the reigning champ but it did not stop there.
When the fifth round took place, Pereira would start to bounce back against Adesanya by handing out a series of punches that would heavily damage the undisputed champion resulting in a stoppage by the referee by 2:51.
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In a post-fight interview, Adesanya reflected on what happened in his matchup against the new champion, Alex Pereira. He immediately accepted his loss and admitted that he needs to talk to his coaches first. He also said that he knew he had an advantage before the fifth round but when the next round started, he felt that his perennial nerve was damaged due to Pereira’s continuous attacks.
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Physically, Alex Pereira was bound to win the fight due to his bigger physique and his excellent striking ability. Although Adesanya was one hell of a fighter, it would be safe to say that the Brazilian mixed martial artist could be his one and only Kryptonite. Having been defeated thrice already, that could well be the case moving forward.
Do you think we will be seeing a fourth Pereira versus Adesanya match? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us, here at Spiel Times.
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