Pereira’s theory on why Adesanya lost to du Plessis at UFC 305

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has spoken up with a theory on why Israel Adesanya lost to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 recently, with the Brazilian speculating that Adesanya was fighting with an injury.

“Maybe Adesanya had an injury, I don’t know,” said Pereira on Monday.

“You could see he kicked very little.”

Adesanya was favoured by UFC bookmakers to defeat du Plessis and reclaim the middleweight belt.

However, the South African gained a fourth-round submission of Adesanya, handing him his fourth career loss.

Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Pereira continued his explanation of why he thinks Adesanya may have been carrying an injury against du Plessis in Perth.

“Of course, I don’t know how Adesanya was,” he said.

“When we are there, we don’t talk about injuries, we don’t talk about problems.

“We are there and we want to fight, want to win. No excuses.

“Thing is, that inside kick of Adesanya is very good.

“Not everyone can do that, but he can do it very well.

“I knew it was a good weapon, and he didn’t continue doing that inside kick.

“Even Dricus said it bothered him, and also bothered me. I’ve said it before for the people who asked me.

“He didn’t continue to do it. When he is only throwing hands, I think it’s easier for the opponent to protect themselves, or to get out.

“It was more boxing there, so it was easier for [du Plessis].”

Soon after Pereira’s theory began circulating, Adesanya himself responded on social media.

“It’s weird how this guy knows me,” he said.

“It’s like we’ve spent hours studying each other’s moves and fought multiple times or something.”

While this seemed as though Adesanya was implying Pereira was correct in his analysis, he quickly shut down those suspicions with another tweet.

“I just said, ‘he knows my style’,” Adesanya explained.

“Go touch some grass, please.”

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