Conor McGregor got his prediction for the UFC 281 main event wrong after backing Israel Adesanya to defend his belt against Alex Pereira.
Former two-weight champion McGregor predicted Adesanya would defeat Pereira in their middleweight title fight at Madison Square Garden and was so confident he told his fans to bet on the result. "Adesanya wins tonight. My bet," the Irishman wrote. It's unsurprising that McGregor was backing Adesanya as the pair share the same management team in Paradigm Sports.
Adesanya was looking to make the sixth defence of his middleweight title at the New York event, but lost it after being knocked out in the fifth round by former kickboxing rival Pereira. 'The Last Stylebender' was up on the scorecards and did a good job in the early rounds, mixing up his newfound wrestling with his striking to slowly pick Pereira apart.
Pereira's only hope was to look for a finish in the final round and all Adesanya needed to do was to reach the scorecards to retain his title. But midway through the final round Pereira landed a good flurry of strikes to wobble Adesanya and referee Marc Goddard stepped in to stop the fight, making Pereira a UFC champion after just four fights in the promotion.
The loss ends Adesanya's 12-fight unbeaten run at middleweight and he praised Pereira for his durability after the fight. Adesanya, who was knocked out by Pereira in their 2017 kickboxing rematch, admitted that his leg was shutting down because of Pereira's low kicks.
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“F****ng crazy end. Similar to the last time. Same story. It’s crazy,” Adesanya said in his post-fight interview. “He’s durable and he recovers well. Even in the fifth round, I knew he was going to come strong because he was down. Same thing as last time again. It’s another great story for him, but it’s not over. This is still war.”
“My leg. My leg happened. He got calf kicks on and invested well. He hit my peroneal nerve. So that’s why my footwork was compromised,” he said.
“Even when I tripped and went backwards, I had to do the rolie polie. I just tripped over, it’s not like me. Kudos to him for investing in those calf kicks, because it cost me. He is the new champion and congrats to him. He did it again."
