Israel Adesanya Furious With Judges’ Decision As He Cites Alex Pereira As The Winner

Israel Adesanya fumes over the judges’ decision, insisting Alex Pereira was the rightful winner in a controversial verdict

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira did not have the best of bonding. However, in recent times, both UFC icons seem to have moved on from the feud. Thus, Adesanya has no hesitation in hailing Pereira as one of the dominant UFC champions in recent times. Unfortunately, all of that came to a screeching halt at UFC 313. Defending his title for the fourth time, Pereira fell to Magomed Ankalaev via a unanimous decision loss. And while it was a great moment for the Russian, Adesanya looked perplexed with the decision.

UFC 293: Alex Pereira against Israel Adesanya immediate rematch

Alex Pereira did not have the greatest of matches in UFC 313. However, as the judge made the decision, the UFC realm erupted in anguish. They could not believe that the judges had scored the bout in favor of Ankalaev. Giving a similar reaction, Adesanya too, looked frustrated.

“49-46, what was that?… He didn’t really do much with the holding. What a stupid game we play,” said ‘Izzy.’

Well, according to fans, Ankalaev had several failed takedown attempts. Thus, it was evident that Pereira’s takedown defense was top notch. But despite the strong defense, Pereira was not awarded the victory. Meanwhile, as the controversies keep coming, Magomed Ankalaev has proven his words to be true.

Magomed Ankalaev Throws Shade At Alex Pereira

A former UFC champion gives Magomed Ankalaev a reality check, calling his strategy against Alex Pereira “foolish.

Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev

After the shock defeat, Alex Pereira did not seem to be too worried. As he stood almost unscathed, Poatan mentioned that he was not sure how Ankalaev was awarded the victory. Quite expectedly, Ankalaev was not at all happy with the statement.

Speaking in the post fight presser, the new light heavyweight champion said, “(Alex) was saying he wasn’t sure why the victory was given to me… Listen. I’m happy for a rematch, but maybe in the rematch, he can fight for real, not just run away the entire time.”

Well, with the first chapter between the two endings, it seems the rivalry still has a lot to it. It will now be interesting to see how things pan out in the future.