"It's easy to go 'Boom!', left hook!" - Israel Adesanya on why he wasn't impressed with Alex Pereira's knockout of Sean Strickland at UFC 276

Israel Adesanya shared his take on Alex Pereira's vicious knockout against Sean Strickland at UFC 276.

'Poatan' flatlined 'Tarzan' at the T-Mobile arena this past weekend. The former two-division Glory kickboxing champion landed his signature left hook to stop Strickland in his tracks. However, it wasn't impressive enough in the eyes of the UFC middleweight champion.

In an interview with mainevent, 'The Last Stylebender' stated that Strickland's style of parrying shots left him open to Pereira's left hook.

"Nah. Not really [impressed]. It's just Sean Strickland is, 'Parry, parry.' Oh, that's easy to go, 'Boom!, Left hook.' I wasn't impressed. I wasn't really impressed by my performance because of the expectations I put on myself. But, it was still a master class."

Watch Israel Adesanya talk about Alex Pereira vs. Sean Strickland below:

Alex Pereira looks set to face Adesanya next for the UFC middleweight title. The Brazilian has made the most of his opportunities inside the octagon and finds himself ranked No.6 after less than a year in the promotion.

Pereira earned a brutal flying knee knockout against Andreas Michailidis in his UFC debut at UFC 268. An impressive decision win against his compatriot Bruno Silva followed. 'Poatan' then vanquished Strickland at UFC 276, handing him his first loss in four years.

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Israel Adesanya promises to be at his best when he fights Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira are familiar opponents to one another. They have squared off twice inside the kickboxing ring, with 'Poatan' claiming the win on both occasions.

After a decision victory in their first fight, Pereira knocked Adesanya out cold in their rematch. He is the only man to ever finish 'The Last Stylebender' in combat sports.

Reflecting on that, Adesanya opined that he is a different fighter now that what he was back at that point in time. There were also criticisms of his latest performance against Jared Cannonier as many believed it was an off night for the champion.

Here's how Adesanya addressed those claims in his discusison with mainevent:

"I am not the same fighter I was back then. I've learned and matured from that fight. So, I know what I can do. Like I said, I had an off night. When I fight him I am going to make sure I'm on."