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By Peter Akinbo.
MMA fans have taken to social media to react to Israel Adesanya’s second round knockout win over Alex Pereira at the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida on Sunday morning.
The main event showcased the long-standing rivalry between the two fighters but in the end, it was the Nigerian-born fighter, Adesanya, who came out on top, marking the end of a four-fight saga.
The bout between Adesanya and Pereira became heated in the second round when the fighters started exchanging blows. The frenzy of blows from the Brazilian stunned the audience, but it was Adesanya who delivered the final blow that knocked Pereira out cold. The knockout was so impressive that it left the fighters watching from the arena, and even those watching from home in disbelief and a number of them have taken to social media to react to the singular moment of greatness.
President of Nigeria Mixed Martial Arts Federation Henry George congratulated Adesanya after the fight saying, “This is a win for all of us a nation. Congratulations champ, you made us proud once again.”
The former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou recognized Adesanya’s greatness and wrote, “The best middleweight of all time and I’m not arguing with anyone. @stylebender.”
A Twitter user named Fatime with the handle, @TKOverit was amazed writing, “HOLY SH*T ADESANYA DID IT THAT WAS INCREDIBLE #UFC287.”
Pooja Media also took to his handle to hail Nigerian fighters abroad calling out Kamaru Usman to complete the cycle, “Anthony Joshua won, Israel Adesanya won, Usman is next. Naija, e dide.”
The former pound-for-pound number one, Terrance McKinney was blown away by Adesanya’s win writing, “Izzy is back! let’s go! wow that’s huge.”
American Mixed Marial artist, Michael Chandler hailed the ‘Last Stylebender’s return to the middleweight summit, “Woooooooow! Izzy is back in a big way! #ufc287.”
Three-time Swedish National champion Khamzat Chimaev sent a congratulations and a challenge Adesanya’s way, “Congratulations @stylebender. see you soon.”
The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira dates back to their kickboxing days. The two fighters have been waiting for the moment to finally settle their scores inside the octagon, and the UFC 287 event gave them the perfect opportunity. Despite being the champion, Pereira’s performance seemed lackluster compared to Adesanya’s and the Nigerian-born New Zealander took full advantage.
During the UFC 287 post-fight press conference, Adesanya made it clear that he feels he’s done fighting Pereira. “It’s done,” Adesanya said.
“He’s had his story, now it’s my story. And I’ve closed that chapter and again, I move on.”
Adesanya argued that he never had to give Pereira a title shot last year, but did so for the challenge. He thinks if there is a chance that he fights Pereira one more time, “Poatan” will have to fight other top middleweights.
“I did the hard yards and I earned my f**king rematch … now he has to do the hard yards if he wants to do it,” he said.
However, Adesanya isn’t convinced that Pereira will remain in the middleweight division. He believes his fierce rival will take his talents to the light heavyweight division. UFC President Dana White also thinks Pereira will decide to change weight class.