Israel Adesanya was suspended indefinitely following UFC 281 loss to Alex Pereira
Following his knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281, Israel Adesanya was given an indefinite medical suspension. Israel Adesanya came short in his conquest to avenge the two losses to Alex Pereira in kickboxing. At UFC 281, Adesanya dominated the majority of the fight before ‘Poatan’ rallied in the fifth round to get the finish. He defeated Adesanya for the third time, this time via TKO.
The New York State Athletic Commission has now issued medical suspensions for 19 fighters from the event, including former champion Adesanya, who has been given a mandatory rest period of 60 days. Pereira was also suspended indefinitely from the commission, with only 30 days of leave.
During an appearance on the Flagrant podcast alongside comedian Andrew Schulz, Adesanya claimed that he had planned to pull out of the fight due to a lingering injury. The injury circles back to Adesanya’s last title defense against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.
Furthermore, Adesanya added that he shelved the plan bearing in mind the implications of the decision. He felt that he would be portraying the image that he was “scared” of Pereira, which has never been the case for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
With that in mind, Adesanya said:
“Breaking news I was gonna pull out of this fight early on…This time with the last fight with Cannonier, I hurt my PCL. And that’s the thing that keeps your knee from going backwards. Early in camp, it had some problems.“
He added:
I was gonna pull out early but I was like, “Nah, I wanna get this done.” Because I am a prideful man…I’ll be da**ed if people say I am a f**king, I’m scared of this guy because I’m not. I knew I wanted to fight.“
Israel Adesanya reacts to UFC 281 stoppage
Israel Adesanya wasn’t satisfied by the stoppage of his fight against rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281. According to ‘The Last Stylebender’, he has seen worse stoppages and the referee should have let him go out on his guard.
At UFC 281, Pereira defeated Adesanya for the middleweight championship after Pereira staged an incredible comeback in the fifth round to win by standing TKO. Adesanya immediately objected to the early stoppage, claiming that he was not in immediate danger. “The Last Stylebender” then discussed the fight’s conclusion with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, explaining his viewpoint on the outcome.
“Marc did a good job, but you see it when I get up. I’m fine. I was lucid. I didn’t get rocked rocked. I got hit hit against the fence and my thought was, ‘Escape, laterally, either left or right.’ I went right and as I was going right , it wasn’t because I was rocked, it was my foot. You know the perineal [nerve]? It happened to Michael Chandler, [Henry] Cejudo, our boy, Jimmy Crute, it happened to him as well.” [via MMA Fighting]
“I was waiting for him to take big shots, so I put my head down; I could see his arms and I could see his legs. That’s all I needed to look at. I know where his head is. So I’m just there moving, moving, moving. But to the referee, after two big shots and then I wobble, and I’m standing there looking like that, he’s going to be like, ‘Nah.’ And he’s being safe. So when he jumped in I’m like, ‘I’m fine. Aw, f***.’ I was literally just disappointed.”
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