Kamaru Usman reflects following Israel Adesanya's title loss against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 - "There’s always turbulence before the breakthrough"
Kamaru Usman has weighed in on the title fight that took place between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira at UFC 281.
'The Nigerian Nightmare' posted a few pictures to his social media accounts. One of those images featured him, 'The Last Stylebender' and UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. They represented a trio of African UFC titleholders prior to Usman and Adesanya's respective defeats.
In the caption, Usman reflected on the UFC 281 main event and shared words of encouragement for Adesanya:
"There’s always turbulence before the breakthrough. This makes success so much sweeter. Champions never stay down. We always find a way to the top. What an amazing weekend with even more amazing people and energies."
There’s always turbulence before the breakthrough. This makes success so much sweeter. Champions never stay down. We always find a way to the top.
What an amazing weekend with even more amazing people and energies🫶🏿🫶🏿 #blessed #ufc281 https://t.co/TRuee6xTFv
In the highly anticipated matchup between Adesanya and 'Poatan', the Brazilian took home the victory via TKO.
'The Last Stylebender' got the better of Pereira for the majority of the fight. However, after a fiery speech by his cornermen right before the fifth round, 'Poatan' came looking for a finish and stopped Adesanya towards the end of the fight.
This was Adesanya's first loss in the middleweight division. Prior to the encounter at UFC 281, the New Zealander was 23-1 as a professional fighter, with his only defeat coming at light heavyweight against Jan Blachowicz.
Israel Adesanya comments on the referee stoppage at UFC 281
After Marc Goddard stepped in to stop middleweight title fight, Israel Adesanya immediately protested, claiming he was okay to have continued.
During the post-fight press conference, the New Zealander shared his thoughts on the stoppage. According to the 33-year-old, he would have been able to survive the storm and go the distance with Pereira, if not for Goddard.
Israel Adesanya added that although 'Poatan' may have possibly won the round if not for the stoppage, he would have won the fight overall:
"My ego would say, 'At least let me go out on my shield.' But I don't think I would have gone out, 'cause I was still there. I've seen worse stoppages, bring back Steve Mazzagatti, I would have been fine. He might have won that round but I would still be the champion."
He did, however, note that he'd seen worse stoppages and that his team's honest assessment made him less inclined to complain further.
You can watch Israel Adesanya's appearance at the UFC 281 post-fight press conference below:
What makes Pereira's win even more remarkable is the fact that he won the championship belt in just his fourth fight in the promotion. Considering how the fight was going before the TKO, there is a good chance that the two middleweights will share the octagon again soon.