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At UFC 281, Alex Pereira made a spectacular comeback against Israel Adesanya in a fight that he was losing. Similar to their second outing in kickboxing, the Brazilian pulled off a last-minute victory by finishing the Nigerian-born Kiwi in the fifth round.
All three judges; Eric Colon, Sal D'Amato, and Mike Bell, had Adesanya winning the fight 39-37. The judges gave Israel Adesanya a 10-9 score in the first, third and fourth rounds, whereas 'Poatan' received a 10-9 score in the second round.
![Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira official scorecard [Image courtesy: ufc.com]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/11/eb9cd-16685782615751-1920.jpg)
Israel Adesanya had some big moments in the fight, rocking Pereira at the end of the first round and taking him down in the third. The former middleweight champion was coasting to a victory until he was caught in a firefight in the fifth round where the Brazilian was able to connect with some big shots.
A clearly wobbled Adesanya tried his best to avoid the onslaught but after witnessing an overwhelming amount of unanswered shots land on 'The Last Stylebender', referee Marc Goddard stepped in at 2:01 minutes of the fifth round to stop the fight.
Alex Pereira has three victories over Israel Adesanya, two in kickboxing and one in MMA. He is the only man to have finished 'The Last Stylebender' twice in his entire fighting career.
Alex Pereira's corner boosted his confidence prior to his fifth-round win at UFC 281
Alex Pereira was on his way to losing the bout against Adesanya at UFC 281. The Brazilian fighter was behind on the scorecards going into the fifth round. In his corner prior to the fifth round, his team, including Glover Teixeira, aggressively reminded 'Poatan' that he was losing the fight and that he needed to go out there and knock Adesanya out.
Pereira's corner advice seemed to instill a sense of urgency in him as he came out in the fifth round, walked Adesanya down, and eventually finished him at the 2:01 minute mark.
Here's what his corner said to 'Poatan' before the fifth round:
"He is feeling when you are hitting. You only have one round, active with your defense and combos, two or, three strikes. Just one-twos, alright, breathe. Right now you are going to be a world champion. This round is yours. Go for it."
There's something about a fighter's corner reminding them that they are losing, which gets them all fired up and ready to go. Leon Edwards at UFC 278 is a classic example of where 'Rocky' was on the verge of losing to Usman in a one-sided bout.
Prior to the fifth round, Edwards' corner got him all fired up, reminding him that he was losing the fight and that he needed to knock Usman out. The result was 'Rocky' landing one of the best head kick knockouts in the UFC on Usman, thus claiming the welterweight belt.
Skip to 1:10 minutes for Edwards' fired-up corner advice:
