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Israel Adesanya appeared destined for his sixth title defense at UFC 281 before Alex Pereira was able to pull off a TKO victory in the fifth and final round. Adesanya recently praised Pereira's corner, including No.1-ranked light heavyweight Glover Teixeira, for inspiring his rival prior to the fifth round.
Speaking to the FLAGRANT podcast, Adesanya first praised Pereira's ability to recover:
"Last time when I fought him in kickboxing, it's the same thing. I whooped his a** in the second round. First round wasn't a draw like he said, I whooped his a**, clean. Second round, I whooped his a** even worse and third round, he just got gusto, he just got gusto, he recovered. He's a comeback kid, he recovers so well."
Adesanya added:
"I heard the speech today that his corner gave him and it was a beautiful speech. His corner just gave him this f**king motivating speech, but I was like 'Okay, you have to be in this, you have to focus' and I was, but my leg wasn't focused."
Heading into the fifth round, Pereira's corner advised him that he was likely behind on the scorecards and needed a finish to become the middleweight champion. He was able to follow their advice and pick up a TKO victory, becoming the first middleweight to defeat Adesanya.
Watch Israel Adesanya offer praise to Alex Pereira and his corner below (starting at the 10:53 mark):
Israel Adesanya reveals injury to perineal nerve at UFC 281
Israel Adesanya shockingly lost his middleweight title to Alex Pereira via a fifth round TKO at UFC 281. Adesanya recently revealed that he suffered an injury in the fight to his perineal nerve which affected his ability to switch stances as the fight progressed.
Speaking to the FLAGRANT podcast, Adesanya shared:
"It might have been the second kick he landed and my leg just went - it was fine, I just felt the nerve shoot up and I was like that's weird... The longer the fight went and the more leg kicks he landed, the worse it got... I normally switch [stances] way more. I would've been switching more. I wanted to stay southpaw a little bit more."
Adesanya will likely be Pereira's first title defense, giving him an opportunity to avenge his loss. Despite the result, Adesanya has opened up as the betting favorite in the potential rematch.
Watch Israel Adesanya discuss his perineal nerve injury suffered at UFC 281 below (starting at the 5:30 mark):
