Nigerian-born UFC fighter Israel Adesanya has revealed the reason for his shock loss to Brazil’s Alex Pereira in last weekend’s middleweight title fight.
Adesanya was leading on all cards until he walked into knock-out punch. He said his leg shut down due to several kicks from his old time rival.
“He got calf kicks early on and invested well,” Adesanya said.
“He hit my peroneal nerve. So that’s why my footwork was compromised. Even when I tripped and went backwards, I had to do the rolie polie. I just tripped over, it’s not like me. Kudos to him for investing in those calf kicks, because it cost me.”
The Last Stylebender’ was on course to win a unanimous decision as all three judges had him three rounds to one up heading into the fifth round. It’s a similar ending to Adesanya and Pereira’s kickboxing rematch in 2017, as the Nigerian-born Kiwi was winning that fight before being brutally knocked out by Pereira in the third round.
“F***ing crazy end. Similar to the last time. Same story. It’s crazy,” Adesanya added. “He’s durable and he recovers well. Even in the fifth round, I knew he was going to come strong because he was down. Same thing as last time again. It’s another great story for him, but it’s not over. This is still war.”
