Firas Zahabi isn’t sure how Alex Pereira will rebound after his KO loss on Saturday night to lose his title.
At UFC 287, Pereira was looking to defend his middleweight title for the first time as he took on Israel Adesanya in the rematch in MMA but the fourth time they fought in combat sports – as they fought twice in kickboxing. Pereira had won all three fights but in the rematch, Adesanya reclaimed the belt with a second-round KO victory.
‘That kind of knockout can end your career’
It was a vicious KO win, and Zahabi thinks that KO could ruin Pereira’s career as he could be more likely to get knocked out now.
“I was happy to see Pereira get revived. But, I’ll tell you something, he got knocked out really bad. That kind of knockout can end your career. It’s very possible Adesanya might have ruined Pereira’s career,” Zahabi said on his YouTube channel. “It was an epic fight, (the) first round was very similar to their first fight, 90 percent of it was similar, I told you guys the first round was all about kicking, they are two Glory guys. That’s what happened and then Adesanya gets in trouble early he got hurt to the legs, that was not playing possum I don’t believe it. Adesanya was not playing possum he was legitimately hurt, I think it was his pride telling everybody he wasn’t hurt. He was hanging by a thread.”
As of right now, it’s uncertain how Alex Pereira will return after this KO loss. But, he will be fighting at light heavyweight next time out, so perhaps the change in weight classes will help his chin out.
However, Firas Zahabi will be paying close attention to Pereira’s next fight as he thinks Pereira could struggle to get wins after his devastating KO loss on Saturday night in Miami.
