Former UFC light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson was shocked to see Israel Adesanya lose to Alex Pereira at UFC 281.
Adesanya lost to Pereira via TKO in the fifth-round of their bout, surprising many viewers due to his success in the early rounds of the fight.
In an interview with The Schmo, Anderson was asked about his reaction to Israel Adesanya losing his middleweight title to Alex Pereira. He replied:
“That one. That shocked me. He [Israel Adesanya] has more fights in the UFC against higher-level guys, he’s seen a little bit of everything and they have history so he knows what to expect. I thought he was going to weather the storm and get it done.”
Anderson further spoke about his surprise finding out about Adesanya’s loss after leaving the arena early to get back to training. He stated that his wife informed him of Adesanya getting knocked out on his way back and expressed his regret about leaving the arena early.
However, Anderson believes that the Nigerian-born Kiwi will get his title back:
“Sucks, but I’ve got confidence that he’ll come back and get it back.”
‘The Last Stylebender’ saw his middleweight title taken away by his longtime kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira. ‘Poatan’ has previously defeated Adesanya twice in the sport of kickboxing and remains the only one to ever knockout the former middleweight champion.
Watch Corey Anderson’s full interview below:
Jiri Prochazka outlines how Israel Adesanya can get his title back against Alex Pereira in potential rematch
Jiri Prochazka has given his opinion on how Israel Adesanya can get his title back against Alex Pereira when the two rivals face each other again in a rematch.
In a recent interview with The Schmo, the current light heavyweight champion claimed that he believed that Adesanya could once again be the champion and praised ‘The Last Stylebender’s precise work in the first four rounds of the bout against Pereira:
“That was amazing. Everybody can say everything but that was amazing work.”
Prochazka then recalled his last fight as he gave his opinion on how the former middleweight champion could find his victory against ‘Poatan’ :
“You [Israel Adesanya] have to go till the end. Like in my fights, my last fight. That was what [won] me the fight. You have to go till the last second.”
Jiri Prochazka is all set to face Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 on December 10 in a rematch for the light heavyweight title. His last bout was in June earlier this year at UFC 275 where he defeated Teixeira via a fifth-round submission following a gripping back-and-forth showdown to be crowned champion of the light heavyweight division.
Watch Jiri Prochazka’s full interview below: