Israel Adesanya recaptured the UFC Middleweight championship in thrilling fashion Saturday after knocking Alex Pereira out cold in the second round.
Pereira was teeing off on Adesanya up against the cage with vicious punches, kicks and a high knee before Adesanya nailed Pereira with a set of left jabs and hard over-hook right punch that put Pereira down to the canvas.
Adesanya then rocked Pereira with a hard hammer fist before the referee stepped in to stop the match. After the ref ended the fight, Adesanya revealed one of the coolest celebrations in UFC history.
Adesanya is seen celebrating by pretending to shoot arrows down at Pereira’s lifeless body as the crowd — which included former President Donald Trump, Mike Tyson and Kid Rock — went nuts.
The moment Israel Adesanya knocked out his opponent.
— YabaLeftOnline (@yabaleftonline) April 9, 2023
After the knockout and arrow celebration, Adesanya dropped to the ground in front of Pereira’s son and pretended to also be knocked out.
He did this shit to get back at Alex Pereira’s Son💀💀
Israel Adesanya beefing with his whole family lmao 😭 pic.twitter.com/NRkuzU2MpW— 𝘑𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘯𝘢 (@jashna___) April 9, 2023
If you don’t know the back story, you would think Adesanya pretending to be knocked out in front of Pereira’s child is beyond cruel. When Pereira defeated Adesanya in 2017 and KO’d him, however, his son dropped to the ground in front of Adesanya and pretended to be out cold himself.
6 years ago, alex pereira knocked out israel adesanya and alex’s son jumped in the ring to imitate the way izzy went unconscious. last night izzy knocked out his dad, and mocked him back pic.twitter.com/TDjTtkT5Fb
— cig (@cig) April 9, 2023
During the press conference after the fight, Adesanya spoke about dropping to the canvas in front of Pereira’s son and said, “I’m petty bro. I remember — so the first time [Pereira] knocked me out in Brazil, and his son came into the ring and then just, like, started to lie dead next to me, and I’m like, ‘you f*****g little a****le. I’ll whoop your ass if your dad don’t do it for you.”
(RELATED: WWE Sees Huge Jump In Ratings For Iconic WrestleMania Pay-Per-View)
He continued, “But then, uh, I looked for his kid, and I pointed at him, and I saw him, and I was like, ‘Hey, hey, hey,’ [pretends to fall to the floor] just to remind him.”
“Im petty bro.” Adesanya explains his 2nd celebration. #AndNew #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/c2MymBSaNm
— ClippyMcClipFace. (@UnitedAnother) April 9, 2023
I love seeing somebody as talented as Adesanya win like this. Knocking out the guy who put him to sleep years ago to regain the belt is some epic stuff. Hollywood couldn’t write it up any better.
Adesanya’s victory was a complete full circle moment for him. I love the way he won, and I loved his celebration even more. It was the exclamation point on a fantastic pay-per-view.