Israel Adesanya dominated the UFC middleweight division since stepping foot inside the Octagon for the first time in 2018. Although he lost to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 at light heavyweight, Izzy was unbeaten at middleweight. However, his unbeaten run in the 185lbs division comes to an end at UFC 281 as Alex Pereira gets the stoppage win in the main event.
However, there was an eerie similarity in the way he lost his belt with Kamaru Usman’s defeat at UFC 278. At UFC 278, Leon Edwards knocked out Usman with a massive head kick. However, it seemingly came out of nowhere as Kamaru was dominating the bout. But, with less than a minute left in the final round, Leon landed the now-famous head kick to win the welterweight championship.
It looks like the MMA gods wrote a similar script for Usman’s close friend Israel Adesanya. Heading into the final round, all three judges had the bout 39-37. The judges gave Alex the second round where he managed to secure a takedown. However, Adesanya won rounds 1, 3, and 4. So it looked like Izzy was cruising towards a comfortable unanimous decision win.
Go Octagon-side for THAT finish from @AlexPereiraUFC!! #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/H8m0K0VYex
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
However, Alex turned up the heat in round 5 in a desperate attempt to finish the champ. It paid off as Alex got the stoppage at the 2:01 minute of the final round to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion.
Touch of class 👏
— #UFC281 on BT Sport (@btsportufc) November 13, 2022
Kamaru Usman is one of the first to check on Israel Adesanya 🇳🇬#UFC281 pic.twitter.com/lH6K3DIytu
Kamaru Usman was in attendance for the event along with his Black Panther cast mates. As previously mentioned, Usman and Adesanya are very good friends in real life. Hence, he immediately went upto Adesanya to show his support after such a bad loss. Usman himself was shocked to see the fight go as it did.
This is the most depressing cage side reaction video ever #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/wcEpQ28Ua8
— Out Of Context MMA (@oocmma) November 13, 2022
Alex Pereira remains unbeaten against Israel Adesanya at UFC 281
Alex Pereira beat Israel Adesanya twice previously at kickboxing. Adesanya was the more technical fighter, while Pereira had the power. It was evident once more at UFC 281 that Alex can not compete with Izzy’s technical prowess. But, he replicated his game plan from 2017 where he got the KO. Instead of letting Izzy push him into the fence, Poatan himself walked Israel down and started letting his hands go.
There’s a new king in the middleweight division 👑 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/Ts5Wsjwd0n
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
Adesanya almost finished him at the end of round 1. Throughout the contest, Alex preserved his energy as it was his first 5-round fight in the UFC. Fans wondered why Pereira was not being more active in the fight. They got their answers in the final round when the Brazilian threw caution to the wind and maintained his unbeaten streak over The Last Stylebender.
Would you like to see an immediate rematch between the newly crowned champ Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments down below.
Discussion about this post