Fighters react to Alex Pereira dethroning Israel Adesanya at UFC 281: "Alex may be his kryptonite"

History repeated itself at UFC 281 after Alex Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya to become the new middleweight champion of the world.

Much like their 2017 rematch in kickboxing, Adesanya looked like he was on his way to victory before getting caught. The Nigerian-born Kiwi convincingly won the first few rounds, landing the cleaner shots on Pereira.

However, 'Poatan' proved once again that he only needed one shot to change the outcome. In the fifth and final round, the Brazilian landed a massive left uppercut, forcing the champion to cover up. Pereira proceeded to unleash a brutal barrage of punches on Adesanya.

After several unanswered punches, referee Marc Goddard decided to step in with 2:01 remaining on the fight clock. 'The Last Stylebender' immediately went up to the official to protest the stoppage, but the fight was over.

Pereira became the new UFC middleweight champion with only five professional MMA bouts under his belt. Here's how the pros reacted to the insane ending of UFC 281.

UFC fighters react to Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira

Former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones congratulated Alex Pereira on the massive upset. Jones, of course, has a brewing rivalry with Israel Adesanya, so many could think that he was taking a subtle jab at his rival.

However, it appeared that 'Bones' was only being sincere in his message to the new champion.

Welterweight contender Belal Muhammad addressed the big narrative of the fight. After three bouts across kickboxing and MMA, Israel Adesanya just couldn't find a way to beat Alex Pereira.

Ex-UFC two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo pointed out that unpredictability is why MMA is such a "beautiful" sport. His sentiments were echoed by featherweight superstar Max Holloway, who was utterly surprised by the result.

Women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes sent her regards to her compatriot. 'The Lioness' was overjoyed to have another Brazilian UFC champion.

Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev and Luke Rockhold have already started calling out the new champion. Earlier this year, Rockhold noted that the only way he'll come out of retirement is if Alex Pereira beats Israel Adesanya and he's presented a title shot. But, of course, that's a big if.

Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson, Cody Garbrandt, and Brian Ortega expressed how surprised they were. Garbrandt even claimed that he predicted the fight to end how it did.

Meanwhile, Mike Jackson churned out a spicy take after the fight. 'The Truth' is convinced it was a bad stoppage and that Adesanya should have been given more time to defend himself. Derek Brunson agreed with Jackson's assessment.

About the author

Writing out of the red corner from the Philippines, Rafael has been entrenched in the world of mixed martial arts for the past five years.

He kickstarted his journalistic career with Rappler.com and had continued covering the world's most violent sport for the newspaper Manila Bulletin. He joined Sportskeeda MMA in 2021 and has garnered over 9 million reads.

The combat journalist is also a television sports reporter for the Manila-based network PTV 4.

In his spare time, Rafael trains in boxing and has sparred with MMA pros Rabin Catalan and John Tirona (he obviously got obliterated).

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