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Adesanya says he was injured before he received a beating from Pereira.
New Zealand professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Nigerian descent Israel Adesanya has offered an explanation for losing the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title.
Adesanya suffered a loss to Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer Alexsandro Pereira at UFC 281 back in November 2022.
The 33-year-old Adesanya was dominating the fight until a barrage by Pererira to record the knockout.
The victory for Pereira meant that Adesanya lost the UFC Middleweight title.
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Adesanya on defeat to Pereira
The UFC has sanctioned a rematch between Adesanya and Pererira to headline the UFC 287 edition scheduled for Miami.
'The Last Stylebender' has now come out to explain that he was injured before the fight against Pereira.
Adesanya and Pererira have a history of facing each other in kickboxing events back in 2015 and 2016.
The Brazilian on two occasions was able to get the victory and moved to the UFC to dethrone Adesanya.
Adesanya in an interview with Combat TV, Adesanya explained that he came into teh fight against Pereira injured.
He said, "I had some medical intervention following the fight. Not just the fight itself, but I had a pre-existing thing that I had to sort out before the fight.
"Everyone goes into a fight with something, there's always something wrong. It's the way we train."
Following the defeat at the Madison Square Garden in New York, Adesanya suggested a leg kick from Pereira caused damage to his peroneal nerve.
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He said, "The fight was going my way. He hit my peroneal nerve so that's why my footwork was compromised.
"Cause I was wondering, even when I tripped and did the backwards roll, I had to do a roly-poly 'cause I was like, 'S**t!' I just tripped over and it's not like me, so kudos to him for investing in those calf kicks. Cause yeah, it cost me."
Adesanya is now expected to be fully fit for the rematch against Pereira at UFC 287 scheduled for Sunday, April 9, 2023.
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