Israel Adesanya proved himself in his rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287, overcoming previous losses to secure a win and solidify his position as one of the best middleweights in history.
Israel Adesanya had a lot to prove in his rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287. Despite beating every other middleweight he’d ever faced in his career, Adesanya just couldn’t vanquish his boogeyman in Pereira after losing two him twice in kickboxing and then suffering the same fate this past November in their first encounter in the UFC. It was almost like Adesanya was destined to lose against Pereira every time they met, but “The Last Stylebender” had a much different result in mind as he approached the fourth fight overall and second matchup in the UFC.
“When you watch the way Izzy fought, the biggest adjustment that I saw him make was he wasn’t trying to neutralize Alex Pereira anymore — he was firing back,” Matt Brown said about Adesanya’s performance on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “He claims that he trapped him, did a little rope-a-dope thing against the cage, and I think it’s true, but you can’t just say enough good things about Israel Adesanya. To me, it’s the most epic — it wasn’t a comeback necessarily within the fight — but overall it was a comeback story, and this has to be the most epic comeback story in history so far. He overcame everything in this fight.
Adesanya was actually winning his previous fight against Pereira, including his most dominant round where he took the Brazilian to the ground and effectively outgrappled him for the better part of five consecutive minutes. What ultimately cost him was Pereira storming back in the fifth and final round to score a late knockout, which made many believe that Adesanya might turn to his wrestling again in the rematch. After watching the fight, Brown says Adesanya had no intention whatsoever of using his grappling because deep down inside, the 33-year-old middleweight from Nigeria knew he could beat Pereira on the feet.
It could easily be argued that Adesanya had already defined himself as one of the best middleweights in history alongside former UFC champion Anderson Silva, who is typically considered the gold standard at 185 pounds after he defended his title on 10 consecutive occasions. Adesanya didn’t come close to that number prior to losing to Pereira, but he exacted his revenge in the rematch, and Brown says that deserves a lot of consideration when putting together a list of the greatest of all time in MMA. “I have a hard time saying no to [putting him top five all-time],” Brown said. “I don’t see how you could. What a mountain to overcome. I cannot sit here and say enough great things. What a competitor. What an athlete and look at the guys he’s beat before.