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Israel Adesanya has reacted to the challenge he got from the new UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Pereira (9-2 MMA) faced the former light heavyweight champion Jiri Procházka (29-4-1 MMA) for the vacant 205lbs belt in the main event of UFC 295 tonight at Madison Square Garden. ‘Poatan’ got the title shot after winning a split decision over the former division champion Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut at UFC 291. That win came after a knockout defeat to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287.
Jiri Procházka was fighting for the first time since beating Glover Teixeira for the 205lbs belt in June of 2022 at UFC 275. The Czech warrior had to give up the belt after injuring his shoulder badly.
Tonight’s main event was a spectacular back and forth battle. Alex Pereira did well early in the first round with some vicious low kicks. But Procházka managed to get a takedown and dominated the rest of the round. In round two, Jiri had some early success on the feet and pushed Pereira to the fence with a barrage of punches. It was then that ‘Poatan’ landed his signature left hook, which sent Prochazka to his knees. Jiri tried to grab Alex’s legs to get a takedown, but some brutal elbows stopped him and finished the fight (see that here).
After getting the challenge, Israel Adesanya went to ‘X’ where he gave the following response:
Alex Pereira became the ninth fighter in UFC history to win titles in two different divisions, and then called out his old foe Israel Adesanya in his post-fight interview.
The Brazilian apparently taunted ‘The Last Stylebender’ to face him at 205lbs. “Let it gooooo 🎶” – Adesanya wrote while sharing a photo of Pereira on the ground at UFC 287.
Pereira and Adesanya have fought four times in combat sports, with ‘Poatan’ winning three of those four fights, twice in kickboxing and once in MMA."