“My Peroneal nerve” – Israel Adesanya blames leg injury for his title loss against Alex Pereira at UFC 281


“My Peroneal nerve” – Israel Adesanya blames leg injury for his title loss against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira at UFC 281

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira just gave the fight fans one of the most thrilling UFC title fights in recent times. The main event took place at UFC 281 inside the iconic Madison Square Garden which was packed with fans. During the fight, Izzy was ahead of Pereira and was clearly going into a decision win. However, the Brazilian had other plans and it took him a few seconds in the final round to knock out the champion. 

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After the fight, Adesanya kept it professional and showed up for an interview for ESPN with Megan Olivi. During the conversation, Izzy mentioned that during the initial part of the fight Pereira caught him with a shot which impacted his peroneal nerve. According to ‘The Last Stylebender’, it compromised his ability to maintain distance and position himself. 

He hit my peroneal nerve so that’s why my footwork wasn’t as sharp as I wanted it to be so I was trying to find ways to get off the fence but my left foot kept on dragging and that’s why I tripped that one time as well…it is what it is but I’m still here. I’m not leaving,” said Izzy.

It was a great upset however, fans believe that Israel Adesanya is a true warrior and will most probably come back harder to get that belt back. 

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Read More: Israel Adesanya reveals something he’s proud of that nobody knows at UFC 281 presser

3-0 Alex Pereira continues to dominate his rivalry against Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya (L) and Alex Pereira (R) face-off before their UFC 281 fight

Alex Pereira just proved to the world why he’s considered one of the most lethal strikers out there. It took him only four UFC fights to dethrone the champion and become the new undisputed king of the Middleweight division. 

Going into the fight, ‘Poatan’ had the leverage of previously winning two fights against Izzy. From the start, it looked like Izzy was controlling the pace and was systematically applying his game plan. Pereira struggled to stop Izzy’s wrestling and was getting exhausted. However, the fighter recovered from it and gave it all in the last round and won the fight by TKO. 

Also Read: “I’m done talking” – Israel Adesanya has his game face on at weigh-ins ahead of UFC 281 title fight

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Pereira has now won three of the fights against Izzy in the history of their rivalry. It will be interesting to see how Izzy will take this loss and make his comeback. As once Daniel Cormier once said commenting on his and Jones’ rivalry, “If he wins both fights there is no rivalry.” In the case of Adesanya and Pereira, the score is now 3-0.

Also Read: “Stomp his head” – Israel Adesanya reacts to Alex Pereira’s son mocking him after BRUTAL knockout loss at Glory Kickboxing