Angry Adesanya insists he was fine when fight with Mazzagatti was stopped

Alex Pereira walks away after beating Israel Adesanya to become MMA’s new middleweight champion… at the weekend.

• Wants immediate rematch with conqueror

Israel Adesanya was in relatively good spirits following his first UFC title fight loss, reports mmafighting.com.

‘The Last Stylebender’ relinquished the UFC middleweight championship to Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 281 after being finished via strikes two minutes into the final round. Had Adesanya hung on, it’s likely that he would have won a decision – barring any 10-8 scores – as he was up on all three scorecards heading into the fifth frame.

Still, Adesanya made it clear at UFC 281 post-fight press conference that he doesn’t feel he was in serious danger when the bout was waved off.

“I’m grateful,” Adesanya said. “What a life, what a moment. Similar to the last time (I fought Pereira in kickboxing), same story. It’s crazy. I was fine. First thing I said to (coach Eugene Bareman) or the referee, I was fine because I was still lucid. I was in there, but such happens.”

Adesanya stopped short of outright criticising the referee’s decision, only reiterating that he felt he would have been able to continue despite being hurt.

“No, I talked to my coaches (about the stoppage) and I trust them,” Adesanya said. “I trust them. But I was fine, I could see everything. My eyes might have rolled back a little bit, but I was lucid.”

It was the first stoppage loss of Adesanya’s MMA career, but the second time that Pereira finished him with strikes; the new champion defeated Adesanya with a vicious knockout punch when they met in the kickboxing ring five years ago.

Adesanya credited Pereira with hurting his legs early in the fight, eventually setting up the fight-ending sequence.