“The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya’s reign as middleweight champion came to an end against former kickboxing foe Alex “Poatan” Pereira at UFC 282.
Pereira bided his time through four rounds before unleashing his famed knockout power in the final round to win his third victory against Izzy.
Israel Adesanya‘s coach and City Kickboxing founder Eugene Bareman spoke in an interview with Combat TV about Pereira’s resilient chin. Bareman praised him and declared his chin one of the toughest in the sport:
“I feel like, yeah, we just didn’t have more time so it is what it is. It would have been interesting to see, if there had been more time on the clock, what would have happened. But that’s not necessarily to say that we would have, maybe stopped Pereira or knock him out. Pereira has one of the greatest gifts you can have in this sport. And that chin, he has an amazing chin, amazing. Probably top two, [or] top three in the sport today. I believe so.”
Bareman further acknowledged that they were aware of the constant threat that Alex Pereira posed despite Israel Adesanya’s early dominance in the bout:
“I’m not going to necessarily say that we would have turned the result around if there had been longer in the round. But yeah, round one went really well for us and we were really pleased. But still, like, we were still anxious, we were still on the edge and we know that Pereira can bring it at any time.”
Eugene Bareman not complaining about stoppage in Israel Adesanya’s loss to Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya’s long-time coach also gave his take on the stoppage by veteran referee Marc Goddard, deemed to be early by a section of the fans. Bareman refused to complain about the stoppage or call it an early one in the same interview with Combat TV:
“I can’t sit here and truthfully say that was an early stoppage. I’m happy with the stoppage personally. I thought Israel was in trouble. Of all my experience that I’ve had in the sport, I saw some signs that he was in trouble. I felt that prolonging the fight longer than when Marc Goddard stopped it would’ve ended up not good for Israel’s health. So, I’m happy with the referee’s decision.”
Bareman also stated that the stoppage minimized any damage sustained by Israel Adesanya and allowed him to recover sooner. He also promised “The Last Stylebender” will fight again for the championship.
Check out Eugene Bareman’s full interview with Combat TV on YouTube: