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Israel Adesanya Describes Private Conversation With Alex Pereira After UFC 281 Fight With Both Fighters Showing Respect…
- Israel Adesanya suffered his first KO loss in MMA at the hands of Alex Pereira
- The Kiwi explained that the pair shared respect after their fight at UFC 281
- But Adesanya was quick to point out that the rivals still don’t like each other
- The former UFC champ insisted he would like an immediate rematch
Israel Adesanya has shared details of his conversation with Alex Pereira after a knockout loss to the Brazilian in the main event of UFC 281.
After going into the final round on all three judges’ scorecards, Adesanya suffered the first loss of his UFC career at 185 pounds when Pereira connected with his patented left hook and followed with a series of strikes that forced referee Marc Goddard to to stop the match.
The victory for the 35-year-old marks the third time Pereira has triumphed in encounters between the pair, with the former GLORY two-weight champion twice defeating Adesanya in kickboxing.
Israel Adesanya revealed he shared a moment of respect with Alex Pereira after their clash at UFC 281
While no love was lost leading up to their trilogy fight, Adesanya acknowledged that the rivals shared a moment of respect in the Octagon at Madison Square Garden.
“I told him after the fight, when I bowed to the crowd, he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, hey… respect, respect.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t like you, you don’t like me, but respect’. And we shake hands. Energies don’t mix and that’s okay. This is war. So war is still raging.’ Adesanya told the MMA hours.
The result marks Adesanya’s second loss since he retired from kickboxing in 2017 and switched to mixed martial arts full-time sports.
Adesnya suffered the first KO defeat of his MMA career when he was stopped in the fifth round
The Kiwi insisted he would like an immediate rematch with Pereira sometime next year
With five defenses of the 185lbs title, the Kiwi is the division’s second most successful champion of all time, behind only his former opponent Anderson Silva.
Despite rumors that the UFC could offer former champion Robert Whittaker its next title contender in the middleweight division, Adesanya confirmed that regardless of who holds the belt, he would immediately like to play Pereira again sometime in 2023.
“I will still fight him. If he were to fight someone else and lose the belt, I would still be fighting him [next]. I will fight him. I hope he is the champion, but I am only saying hypothetically that I will still fight him.
‘I’m crazy, brother. I can beat him. I know I can beat him. You’ve seen that I can beat him. He just won’t say lucky, damn lucky, he just invested well. A good game plan.’