Rivalries make any sport more interesting, and there have been several rivalries in mixed martial arts as well. In the recent past, the antagonism between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya was one that caught the attention of fight fans.
A recent video that went viral shows that former Middleweight Champion Alex Pereira might have also contributed to Izzy’s most recent loss at UFC 293. ‘The Stylebender’ lost by unanimous decision to top middleweight contender Sean Strickland in a huge upset and lost his Championship belt.
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In the first round of the fight, ‘Tarzan‘ showed the world that they were wrong to write him off and almost produced a knockout by hitting some combinations that connected well. He also managed to drop Izzy with a strong right-hand jab to the face.
A viral video shows that Alex Pereira taught Sean Strickland the same shot before the fight, and some fans think that ‘Poatan’ might have been the mastermind behind the new champion’s success in the very first round of the fight. A lot of people were surprised when the news first came out that the duo was training together, and many appreciated Sean for approaching Alex for training despite getting defeated by him in their match-up.
Alex Pereira had predicted Sean Strickland’s victory against Israel Adesanya.
Sean Strickland’s memorable victory over Israel Adesanya might have been surprising for the rest of the world, but not for the Brazilian middleweight Pereira. He predicted well before that Strickland might pull off a huge upset.
Pereira took to X to convey that he had previously highlighted Izzy’s weaknesses, though his claims found little credence. He went on to offer congratulations to Strickland, recognizing his well-deserved victory.
I told u guys – but nobody believed me !
Congrats @SStricklandMMA 🏆. You deserve it !!!— Alex “Poatan” Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) September 10, 2023
However, the former champion Pereira refused to take any credit for Tarzan’s victory and said, “So, the credit is all his, I had nothing to do with it despite the days he spent training with me. We didn’t train a lot, but we had some good talks that might have made a difference”.
After losing to Adesanya in their rematch, Pereira has moved up to the light-heavyweight division of UFC and made his debut there successfully by defeating former champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291
Not a long time ago, Israel Adesanya was considered unbeatable, and it looked like he was getting out of opponents to fight. However, the loss against Alex Pereira put things into perspective for the Kiwi fighter, and now the defeat against Strickland has all of a sudden changed a lot of things, not just for Izzy but for the middleweight division itself.
While the 185-lb division finally has some movement, what do you think is up next for Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments!