Alex Pereira is still taking shots at Israel Adesanya even after the fight is over.
UFC 281 was a hugely successful fight event that saw a new middleweight champion crowned. Alex Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya in the main event to capture his first UFC world title. It seemed as if Adesanya was winning the majority of the bout until the fifth and final round where Pereira came out with the TKO victory. Some believed that the stoppage may have come too soon and Adesnaya might have agreed.
“When he stopped it, first thing I go is, ‘I’m fine ref. I’m fine. What the hell?’ Again, I’m a champion,” Adesanya said after the fight. “You refed… Again, I don’t blame him. Marc’s a good ref, but you refed the [Kelvin] Gastelum fight. You’ve seen where I can go to.
Alex Pereira thinks Israel Adesanya is making excuses for this loss and promises to see him again
Pereira is seeing all this talk for Adesanya as excuse-making. Many are praising him for how he has handled the loss, but not his former opponent. Pereira wants more respect from Adesanya for beating him and took to social media to ask.
“Adesanya stop making excuses saying that the referee stopped the fight early… you have to thank him for saving your life. The way you were with your head down looking at the ground, I only needed one or two more hits to connect a good knee to your face so we wouldn’t know the outcome,” he wrote. “As I said at that point in the video, you were a great opponent and I respect you for that. Assume the mistakes along with your team without taking away my merits. You will have one more chance! You’re next!”
There has been some talk about who will be next for Pereira. He has now fought Adesanya three times, twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. He seems open to running it back and so does Adesanya. Also, there is Khamzat Chimaev asking for a shot, and Robert Whittaker that could be waiting in the wings.
