By Lourence Alturino
Image from CNN.com
AND NEW. Alex Pereira has just defeated Israel Adesanya via RD5 TKO to become the brand new UFC Middleweight Champion. This now makes it 3 wins over Adesanya, Poatan's second via finish. How did this happen? Let's recap and breakdown this fight.
Recap
Round 1: Immediately you could see the level of striking these two men posses. This was a straight up kickboxing match for the first 5 minutes. Both landed some clean shots, nothing major however. Until the final moments of the round where Adesanya lands a big right hand and left hook that hurts Pereira badly. If there was 10 seconds left in this round, it would've been a quick night for the Last Stylebender. 10-9 Adesanya.
Round 2: Again a close round throughout. Pereira wins this round as he pushed Izzy to the cage, landed the more effective shots, and even landed a takedown as time expired. 19-19.
Round 3: Adesanya takes Pereira to the ground and keeps him there the entire 5 minutes. Izzy landed significant ground and pound shots on top and Poatan had zero answer. Adesanya dominates this round and Pereira is gassed. 29-28 Adesanya.
Round 4: Both fighters seemed to have taken their feet off the gas pedal, but Adesanya was more active compared to the opposition. Poatan did not throw much in this round and Izzy took advantage. 39-37 Adesanya.
Round 5: The round that changes the UFC forever. After a movie-like speech from his team, Pereira now knows that he has to let his hands go and win this fight. And he did just that. Pereira lands his signature left hook clean and it was the beginning of the end for Adesanya. Pereira put punches into bunches and as Izzy is trying his hardest to survive, the fight was stopped. Alex Pereira wins.
Image from MMA Fighting
Final Thoughts
This is why this sport is amazing. Whatever occurs during the fight does not matter because all it takes is one strike to change the fight. Adesanya was winning this fight 3 rounds to 1 and all it took was a Pereira left hook to change the course of history.
That Poatan power is unreal. The left hook from Alex Pereira will seriously go down as one of the most infamous trademark strikes in combat sports history. It's the one hitter quiter, the ultimate equalizer. When you can hit as hard as Periera does, a 3-1 lead means absolutely nothing.
Israel Adesanya is one of the greatest champions the UFC has ever had. Even if he has yet to defeat Alex Pereira, he deserves an immediate rematch. There would have been no fresh matchups for Izzy if he were to win this fight because he's beaten everyone at middleweight. Just has yet to erase the ghost of his past. But, all of the spotlight should rightfully be on Poatan. He has won the middleweight championship off of just 4 fights in the UFC. And has done something no man has ever done, defeat Israel Adesanya at 185 pounds. The left hook has slain the Last Stylebender once again and Alex Pereira is officially the new king of the middleweights.
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