By Victor Kanayo
Isreal Adesanya, a Nigerian-New Zealander kickboxer, Sunday morning, lost his UFC middleweight title to Alex Pereira.
Adesanya took charge in most part of the fight.
He had Pereira out on his feet at the end of Round 1, but the Brazilian returned the favour in Round 5 to snatch it while pulling off a major upset with a knockout to become the new UFC middleweight champion ending.
In just his sixth pro MMA fight, Pereira, who holds two wins over Adesanya in pro kickboxing, scored successive punches in the waning moments of the final round that rocked the champion before the continued punishment became too much for the referee to allow to continue.
The result ends Adesanya’s title reign at six defenses.
