Alex Pereira knocked out Israel Adesanya for the second time in combat sports, finishing the long-standing middleweight champion in the fifth round. The Brazilian had been somewhat dominated over the previous four rounds, and many considered him to be down 3-1. However, in the final round, he connected with a flurry of punches that sent Adesanya’s equilibrium spiraling.
Israel Adesanya later addressed the media at the post-fight press conference to reflect on his defeat, and in the video implied tge ref rigged the result.
“My ego would say, ‘At least let me go out on my shield.’ But I don’t think I would have gone out, ’cause I was still there. I’ve seen worse stoppages, bring back Steve Mazzagatti, I would have been fine. He might have won that round but I would still be the champion.”
Pereira’s leg kick damaged the peroneal nerve in his left leg, according to ‘The Last Stylebender.’ Adesanya believed that nerve damage was a significant factor in his defeat.
The fight was going my way. He hit my peroneal nerve so that’s why my footwork was compromised. ‘Cause I was wondering, even when I tripped and did the backwards roll, I had to do a roly-poly ’cause I was like, ‘Sh*t!’ I just tripped over and it’s not like me, so kudos to him for investing in those calf kicks. ‘Cause yeah, it cost me.
‘The Last Stylebender’ was also knocked out by Pereira in a kickboxing match in 2017. Adesanya compared his defeat five years ago to his defeat at UFC 281. After a series of unanswered punches, referee Marc Goddard intervened to stop the fight. Minor protests were made by Adesanya, and the strike has been a topic of discussion since the event.
The jury seemed split on whether it was a good stoppage or not. Israel Adesanya appears to believe that the referee made the correct decision. Israel talked about his loss to ESPN MMA’s Megan Olivi and shared his feelings on what had recently transpired.
https://youtu.be/exShJ4CvndQ
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