Israel Adesanya Lost UFC Middleweight Champion To Alex Pereira
Following a knockout loss in the UFC281 main event at Madison Square Garden, United States, in the early hours of Sunday, Israel Adesanya of Nigeria has lost his UFC middleweight title to Brazilian Alex Pereira.
Pereira had previously beaten Adesanya in kickboxing by way of a knockout, so the two fighters had previous encounters. Before the fight, The Last Stylebender was ready to exact his vengeance.
Adesanya appeared to be headed for a decision victory in the fight’s finale after dominating three of the previous four rounds. However, with only two minutes left, the Nigerian-New Zealander boxer destroyed his opponent.
Israel Adesanya gave the Brazilian permission to pin him next to the rope, and then the Brazilian unexpectedly hit The Last Stylebender with multiple combos. The referee called time on the bout after Pereira was unable to take his position back, allowing Pereira to win by TKO and claim the title of UFC middleweight champion.
This is his second defeat in the UFC after losing to Jan Blachowicz in a fight for the light heavyweight championship. It was his first defeat at middleweight.
After Kamaru Usman suffered the same fate and lost his UFC Welterweight title to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 in a manner similar to that of Israel Adesanya, Nigeria has now lost all of its UFC title holders.
