Alex Pereira issues statement following KO loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287: “Everything is okay”
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Alex Pereira has spoken out after being stopped by Israel Adesanya in their MMA rematch at UFC 287.
Pereira and Adesanya are no strangers to one another in combat sports. Pereira scored two kickboxing victories and an MMA win over “The Last Stylebender.” Many were wondering if Adesanya would ever get over the “Poatan” hump, but he did just that, scoring a second-round knockout win to reclaim the UFC middleweight gold.
Post-fight Statement From Alex Pereira
Alex Pereira took to his Instagram account to issue a statement after being knocked out for the first time as a pro MMA fighter (translation via DeepL).
“Just dropping by to let you know that everything is okay,” Pereira said. “I want to thank my family, my team, and all of you who follow me and like my work. Now I just need to rest and get back to continue with the plans that have already been made.”
UFC President Dana White spoke to reporters following UFC 287 and he expressed his belief that Pereira will ultimately decide to move up to the light heavyweight division (via MMAFighting).
“I think that Pereira probably moves to 205 after this fight,” White said. “He’s a monster.”
White made it clear that he doesn’t know if “Poatan” has made his decision yet on the weight class he’ll be competing in going forward.
“I know that he had, he still had like two pounds to cut leading up to [the weigh-ins],” White said. “There was like an hour left at the end. I mean, I’m not saying he’s moving to 205, but I would assume he is. You guys can ask him himself, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”
The defeat to Adesanya is just the second loss in Pereira’s pro MMA career. He hadn’t been defeated in MMA competition since making his pro debut back in 2015.
