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Alex Pereira may have taken UFC gold and extended his streak to three wins over his former kickboxing opponent last night but Israel Adesanya isn't letting his first middleweight loss to Pereira get him down.
At UFC 281 "The Last Stylebender" was on the receiving end of a TKO loss in the fifth and final round to Brazil's Alex Pereira, losing his middleweight title and 12-fight winning streak in the process. It happened in the same arena he debuted in 2018, Madison Square Garden.
The first four rounds went Adesanya's way. It was most likely his win in the last 10 seconds of the first round after rocking Pereira with hooks before the horn to sound the round's end rang. In the end, Pereira's left hook stunned the champ, with more punches followed up, forcing the ref to stop the bout via TKO to Pereira.
In a Twitter post, the former champion gave arch-rival Pereira props following the match and is looking forward to the next chapter in their rivalry, whenever that may be
At the post-fight press conference, Adesanya was still upbeat following the defeat, even referencing his last meetings in kickboxing years ago.
"What a life. What a moment. Similar to the last time, same story. It's crazy.
"I put it on the line and this is what happens. 'Dare to be great' and I am."
While it may be a bit of time before Adesanya books another match or rematch for the middleweight title, he did reveal issues, though not in detail, he had yet to tend to.
"I don’t disclose everything. I’ve had some stuff, some medical stuff, that I’ve just put on the back burner, I've just got to look after myself because my health comes first.
"People always make fun of my chest and other things but they don't know what I'm doing or what I'm going through in life."
His upbeat energy was still the same at the end of the press conference, giving thanks to his army of supporters in the crowd from City Kickboxing.
“It’s not frustrating. I’m just happy to be here, happy my team is fine. Look what we did today. It’s beautiful."
