Israel Adesanya has a new look at his stoppage-time loss to Alex Pereira after reflecting on his performance at UFC 281 in a new video uploaded to his YouTube channel .
The now-defeated middleweight champion admitted he was tripped by Pereira in the fifth round, but felt that if referee Mark Goddard hadn’t intervened and stopped the fight, He could have continued playing and possibly winning the game.
Adesanya head coach Eugene Bareman is content with the suspension, telling Combat TV that he “sees signs that he [Adesanya] is in trouble.” But, judging by the reaction video below, Adesanya disagrees.
“Then shift. Shift. It’s right here. That right hand where my leg starts to go weak,” Adesanya said (h/t Low Kick MMA). “I’m still fine. Yeah. I’m trying to move my head. I’m fucking like something, it’s too early…it’s a stumbling block.”
“Being able to accept reality. Accept what’s going on,” he added. “I have a big imagination, and sometimes I live in a fantasy, but I make the fantasy a reality. But, when the reality happens, it’s like, ‘Well, okay, I accept it, I’ve been here before. I Worse things have happened in my life.”
Adesanya is expected to rematch Pereira next year to regain the UFC middleweight title.
