Israel Adesanya blames injury for loss to  Pereira, back to reclaim the title 

Former undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Nigeria-born Israel Adesanya has revealed a peroneal nerve injury inflicted by Alex Pereira during their UFC 281 main event back in November of last year, hampered his final round performance at Madison Square Garden, prior to his TKO loss. 

Adesanya, a former undisputed middleweight champion under the banner of the UFC, headlines UFC 287 next weekend against Sao Paulo knockout artist, Pereira in an immediate championship rematch. 

Taking main event honors at the Miami, Florida event, Adesanya will look to snap a run of three consecutive losses to the Brazilian over the course of their respective combat sports careers. 

Featuring twice against Pereira during their respective kickboxing careers, Adesanya first dropped a dubious decision loss to the Brazilian, before then suffering a KO loss in their rematch.

Establishing an impressive lead on all three judge’s scorecards against Pereira back in November of last year, Adesanya was eventually stopped at the fence in the fifth round with a barrage of strikes – resulting in a TKO loss.

However, rewatching footage of his Madison Square Garden clash with the former duel-weight GLORY Kickboxing champion, Pereira, Adesanya claimed he was dealing with a peroneal nerve injury – inflicted by the former prior to his TKO blemish.

 “The second one [leg kick] got me, I felt it, I felt like a shock,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.

“That was the one that was like, ‘Ooh.’ With the nerve – then my legs started to give [in] right there, I was still fine.”

“I remember that, um, but yeah, I was taking it to him (Alex Pereira), beating him up, taking his legs,” Israel Adesanya continued. “His leg was compromised as well but mine just – he actually affected the movement by striking the nerve.” (Transcribed by Middleeasy)

UFC fighter Alexander Volkanovski thinks his teammate Adesanya avenges his loss to Pereira in a big way.

 “I think it finishes early,” Volkanovski told Sky Sports New Zealand. “I think Izzy actually finishes him. I’m thinking third round – I don’t know why I’m saying third round, but that’s been my pick, my round. I honestly think he’s gonna finish, so I’m looking forward to that. Obviously he’s got something to prove. With the right game plan and things like that, I think it’s gonna go well for him, very well for him, and hopefully a nice highlight reel for Izzy. He’s got many of those and one more for the highlight reel.”

Another fighter Michael Bisping think ‘the element of surprise’ can benefit  Adesanya against Pereira

“I think he’s probably going to do similar to the first fight, but you never know,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Maybe he’s going to come out there and go for a double-leg takedown right off the bat because he was the better grappler. He’s just a better grappler, simple as that.

He took him down (and) controlled him for a little bit. And who knows – he might be trying to go for a submission this time, because the thing is, you don’t have to be a great wrestler to learn the mechanics to do a double-leg takedown. Certainly when you’re Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira isn’t necessarily going to expect that off the bat.

“So I’m just going to throw it out there: Don’t be surprised if you see Izzy go out there, pretend to trade on the feet, double jab, right hand, whatever the combination may be, to get a reaction from Pereira. And when the arms come up, you level change, you shoot in, you get your arms around the leg, run him into the fence, pick him up, slam him down, and there you go. Now listen – of course you know Pereira, training with the likes of Glover Texieira, and of course Chuck Liddell – they’ve been there, done it, got the T-shirt. They know how to get back to the feet. But the element of surprise from Israel Adesanya – he might just catch him. You never know.”