Israel Adesanya scores arguably the biggest victory of his career to date after stopping Alex Pereira via second-round knockout at UFC 287 to regain the undisputed UFC middleweight title. What makes Adesanya’s performance even more special is the fact that he trained for exactly this stance.
This last fight with Pereira was not an easy task for “Last Stylebender”. Pereira had knocked out Adesanya twice before inside the kickboxing ring and was coming off a shocking knockout win over the Nigerian fighter at UFC 281 in November 2022. Adesanya was trying to overcome a 0-3 deficit against “Poatan” and few thought he’d be able To fend off the powerful blows of the hero.
Luckily for Adesanya, he was able to tour all that Pereira had to offer early on going into the UFC 287 rematch. It afforded Adesanya the opportunity to lure Pereira along the cage and time for one of the greatest counter combos the UFC has ever seen. Adesanya’s attack left Pereira motionless on the canvas as “Last Stylebender” lifted his 185-pound title once again.
A few days after his victory, Adesanya got a chance to crack his sensational knockout performance. According to the new champion, he played a little “dope rope” in order to set a trap for Pereira.
“I wanted him to feel comfortable,” Adesanya said in a video posted on the site. Twitter (as described above). He thinks I’m a punching bag now. “Oh, I can just play on it. I’m not those other guys you fight with, bro. I’m not those other blood clots.”
Adesanya, who is now 13-2 as a member of the UFC roster, has eliminated everyone present in the middleweight division. With Pereira transferring his talents to light heavyweight, it is unknown at this time who the “Last Stylebender” will meet next. It could be a three-way match with Robert Whitaker or a massive fight against undefeated Chechen contender, Khamzat Chimaev.
Either way, Adesanya appears to be called in and more confident than ever after getting rid of Pereira and putting an end to his bogeyman.