Israel Adesanya, a mixed martial artist from New Zealand, has dropped the UFC middleweight world championship. At the end of their bout at UFC 281 in New York, Adesanya was defeated by previous kickboxing foe Alex Pereira of Brazil via technical knockout.
Prior to being hurt by a string of blows midway through the fifth and final round, when the champion appeared to be safely ahead on the scorecards, the referee intervened to call time on the fight.
Adesanya suffered just his second defeat in 25 professional MMA fights, and it was his first defeat in the middleweight division.
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Israel Adesanya Points Out Reasons Behind Lose The UFC Middleweight Title
He also suffered his third career loss to Pereira, who prevailed in both of their encounters in kickboxing matches in 2016 and 2017.
Even if the defeat was disappointing for Adesanya, his prolonged possession of the belt might allow for an immediate rematch.
The New Zealander, who competes out of Auckland’s illustrious City Kickboxing gym, has held the uncontested UFC middleweight championship for more than three years.
Reasons cited by Israel Adesanya for the loss:
Just before he was knocked out in their UFC title match, Israel Adesanya’s leg was hurt by Alex Pereira’s kicks.
How Did Israel Adesanya Lose The UFC Middleweight Title?
At UFC 281, 33-year-old Adesanya faced off against former kickboxing foe Pereira in an attempt to make his sixth defence of the middleweight championship, but he fell short and was submitted in the fifth round. The Brazilian’s leg kicks mounted up throughout the fight, according to “The Last Stylebender,” and they impacted his peroneal nerve, causing him to feel his leg shutting down.
All three judges had “The Last Stylebender” ahead three rounds to one going into the fifth round, putting him on track to win with a unanimous decision. It has a similar outcome to the kickboxing rematch between Adesanya and Pereira in 2017, in which the Kiwi fighter of Nigerian descent was leading before Pereira mercilessly knocked him out in the third round.
Fans believed Pereira was being expedited into a championship opportunity due of his history with Adesanya even though he had only fought three times in the UFC before to the bout. The Brazilian believes referee Marc Goddard made the right call to end the bout, despite Adesanya’s suggestion that he should have been allowed more time to recover. The Brazilian is open to a fourth encounter with Adesanya.
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