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Israel Adesanya had a serious injury as he went in to knock out Alex Pereira.
Nigerian-New Zealand professional mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya won the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title at the 287 events last month.
Adesanya's victory was significant because it not only allowed him to retain the title but also because it marked the first time in four attempts that he had defeated Pereira.
Israel Adesanya on the injury before taking on Alex Pereira
Looking back, it's even more remarkable given that he had a significant injury less than two weeks prior to the fight.
Adesanya disclosed on his YouTube channel Freestylebender on Wednesday that he tore his MCL during practice the week before the bout, and he even provided a video of the incident.
The Last Stylebender talked about the incident, including how he felt at the time, how he dealt with the injuries, and how he felt on fight night.
He said, “I’ve been here before. My UFC debut, three weeks out, I did my right ankle.
“I remember the next day, or that night, calling [my physiotherapist] and being like, ‘Yo, I need to see you tomorrow, ASAP.’ He had to, like, re-injure it or cause pain to it.
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"I don’t know, it’s f***ing magic or whatever, but I remember biting on a towel and sitting there in pain, screaming as he’s f***ing massaging my hurt ankle where it’s not supposed to be massaged. So, that’s one.
“It’s all part of the story. This is meant to happen. No one wants anything like this to happen, but if you can’t change your circumstances, change your perspective.
“So, I was like, ‘This has happened. This is my perspective. This was meant to happen. I’ll overcome this.’
“So, the comeback of getting from then to the cage was already a big win for me, because after doing that – because that was really f***ing bad – I was like, ‘If I can get through that and get to the cage, this fight, I can get through it."
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Adesanya was ultimately successful in knocking Pereira out due to the champion's excessive aggression.
Pereira declared his intention to move up to light heavyweight after the fight, postponing the MMA trilogy fight for the time being and creating a ton of opportunities for Adesanya's potential next championship opponent, especially against South African rival Dricus du Plessis.
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