Israel Adesanya delighted his fans by achieving a spectacular knockout victory over Alex Pereira at UFC 287. Adesanya had suffered defeat at the hands of Pereira in their previous three encounters, but he was finally able to avenge those losses with this victory. Prior to joining the UFC, Adesanya, and Pereira had met twice in kickboxing matches. Followed by these matches where Adesanya lost, the rivals locked horns in the UFC for the middleweight belt at UFC 281. ‘Poatan’ clearly dominated the fight and knocked out Adesanya in just two minutes, and one second into the fifth round.
The bout resulted in ‘The Last Stylebender’ losing the most precious middleweight championship. However, Adesanya changed his destiny for the good when the two squared off for a rematch at UFC 287. The Nigerian fighter secured a knockout victory four minutes and 21 seconds into the second round. At the moment, Adesanya’s friend, Kamaru Usman has detailed how Adesanya’s victory blacked him out. Usman revealed his feelings after Khamzat Chimaev called out both Usman and Adesanya.
Kamaru Usman details his feelings about Israel Adesanya’s victory
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The former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was talking with ESPN MMA. When asked about his thoughts on Adesanya’s victory, he said, “ I damn near blacked out. When he lands the punch I hopped out of my seat so high that I had to grab the railing because I was like light-headed because I was blacked out. It was like, I mean it’s just one of those things that just kind of sends that shock to your body and I just remember being so motivated by the end of that night. I was just like okay ‘I really didn’t care about my belt but let me go get it back’.”
During the further conversation, Usman detailed how both his and Adesanya’s roots are the same as they both hail from Nigeria. Usman added, “It was incredible watching him. It’s always fun to watch him and it’s just a weird, it’s a weird attachment when, like him being Nigerian, me being Nigerian and us being for just close in that sense.
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He added, “It’s just an attachment that is just I can’t explain, you know. I can’t fight it, I can’t defend, it just doesn’t. I would always root for him in that sense.” It was quite surprising for the MMA community that ‘Borz’ is looking forward to fighting either of them, as his only aim is a title shot.
The next bout of ‘The Last Stylebender’
At the moment, Israel Adesanya is getting ready to face his next opponent. When UFC 290 comes to an end, the victorious fighter between Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis is expected to face Israel Adesanya. Adesanya himself has stated that he has no intention of fighting Alex Pereira for a fifth time.
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Instead, as per the UFC president, Dana White, Pereira might move up to the light heavyweight division. Who do you think will fight against Adesanya next? Do let us know in the comments below.
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