GDT: UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira

[CDJ]

Adesanya seemed accepting of the stoppage but certainly didn't think it was good.

He also interviewed with Olivi and his corner told him it was a fine stoppage so he said he’d trust them


Handling the loss with grace and humility, gained a ton of respect for him

 

[Chaels Arms]

It may not be the ref's main responsibility but as an Izzy fan I liked that stoppage. Goddard stepping in when he did as opposed to a few seconds later might be the difference between Adesanya coming back for a rematch in 4-6 months vs sitting out for a year. He also was in the worst possible situation, half standing with his back against the cage and Pereira hitting him with both hands. That's a different situation than say the Lewis v. Pavlovich stoppage where Lewis fell forward and had both his hands up to block punches and could have shelled up and forced Pavlovich to switch to ground and pound.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I actually thought he looked great. He only got in trouble when he couldn’t escape against the cage.

I think I was referring to, typically when Izzy is up against the cage he’s dodging and getting out of there. This fight he kind of stayed there and got picked apart.

 

[m9]

It may not be the ref's main responsibility but as an Izzy fan I liked that stoppage. Goddard stepping in when he did as opposed to a few seconds later might be the difference between Adesanya coming back for a rematch in 4-6 months vs sitting out for a year.

..or it might have been the difference in him still having the title or not. Who knows?

 

[CDJ]

What a great card that was.

Poirier and Chandler have never had a boring fight and they didn’t disappoint at all tonight.

Not surprised to see izzy’s ego cost him the fight, I was telling my buddy last night that Pereira’s only path to victory was a punchers chance or Izzy’s ego getting the better of him.

I think in a rematch, Izzy likely takes the belt back. I’d rather see Whittaker take the next shot though.

Don’t think it was an ego thing at all, his movement was compromised by a kick that shut off his peroneal nerve. Even caused him to trip at one point. Pereira was showing some resistance on takedowns- it was taking a lot of effort to get him down after the 3rd. Neither are grapplers and I’m sure both were fatigued by that grappling. Izzy is also much smaller than Pereira in terms of frame- probably was 25-30 lbs lighter last night. He got caught against the cage and his kickboxing instincts had him leaning back as if he was in a ring.

 

[h2]

The reporter asking Dana about the heavyweight division in the post-fight conference was hilarious af lol

 

[16Skippy]

Don’t think it was an ego thing at all, his movement was compromised by a kick that shut off his perineal nerve. Even caused him to trip at one point. Pereira was showing some resistance on takedowns- it was taking a lot of effort to get him down after the 3rd. Neither are grapplers and I’m sure both were fatigued by that grappling. Izzy is also much smaller than Pereira in terms of frame- probably was 25-30 lbs lighter last night. He got caught against the cage and his kickboxing instincts had him leaning back as if he was in a ring.

This. I think Izzy is probably a better grappler overall but his takedowns clearly aren't as good as Pereira's takedown defense. I'm pretty sure the one takedown he did get was off of Pereira's failed attempt.

 

[CDJ]

This. I think Izzy is probably a better grappler overall but his takedowns clearly aren't as good as Pereira's takedown defense. I'm pretty sure the one takedown he did get was off of Pereira's failed attempt.

Correct, it was a takedown that could not be replicated unless Pereira made another mistake (from what I recall)

 

[m9]

The reporter asking Dana about the heavyweight division in the post-fight conference was hilarious af lol

I didn't see it, but my favorite ufc thing out of the cage is reporters asking Dana ufc questions as if he actually pays attention to the sport anymore. Hopefully it was along those lines

 

[Moncherry]

Just my opinions but I thought the stoppage was good. Could the ref had let it go long, and have we seen refs let it go longer in the past? Yes. Have refs stopped fights when a wobbled fighter eats a barage of punches and finally gets sent to down (but not fully out)? Yes. We've seen it both ways but Izzy getting back to his feet without his full balance, and being wobbly on the stool after is enough for me, he was done. His brain was rattled, I don't always need to see a fighter eat 5 more shots and end up unconscious face down for 10 minutes, this is the exact reason TKOs exist. Stoppage was fine.

Opinion on the fight is that Izzy could easily have won the fight with another takedown in the 5th. He proved he could control Alex on the ground without much trouble. But instead he decided to follow his ego and prove he could stand with him. One of the rare cases of a low IQ decision from Izzy. You don't give the guy who only has a punchers chance, the chance to punch you. Congrats to Alex though, he did exactly what he needed to do.

What a great card that was.

Poirier and Chandler have never had a boring fight and they didn’t disappoint at all tonight.

Not surprised to see izzy’s ego cost him the fight, I was telling my buddy last night that Pereira’s only path to victory was a punchers chance or Izzy’s ego getting the better of him.

I think in a rematch, Izzy likely takes the belt back. I’d rather see Whittaker take the next shot though.

This narrative about Izzy's "ego" is off-base and not giving Pereira the credit he deserves.

First with regards to the grappling, it's not like Izzy was taking Pereira down at will the entire fight, in fact it was Pereira who managed to land the first successful takedown. As others have already stated, even the ground sequence in the third round began after Izzy won the scramble on a takedown attempt by Pereira. I'm also pretty sure that I did see Izzy trying to engage the grappling again in the fifth round. So it wasn't some big mistake by Izzy or letting his ego get the best of him that cost him the fight.

And in regards to the "puncher's chance", Pereira didn't finish Izzy with some big shot that came out of no where. It's not as if he had no success with his striking up until that point, the difference is that he needed the finish and had to be more aggressive in walking Izzy down, which he managed to accomplish.

 

[Taytro]

This narrative about Izzy's "ego" is off-base and not giving Pereira the credit he deserves.

First with regards to the grappling, it's not like Izzy was taking Pereira down at will the entire fight, in fact it was Pereira who managed to land the first successful takedown. As others have already stated, even the ground sequence in the third round began after Izzy won the scramble on a takedown attempt by Pereira. I'm also pretty sure that I did see Izzy trying to engage the grappling again in the fifth round. So it wasn't some big mistake by Izzy or letting his ego get the best of him that cost him the fight.

And in regards to the "puncher's chance", Pereira didn't finish Izzy with some big shot that came out of no where. It's not as if he had no success with his striking up until that point, the difference is that he needed the finish and had to be more aggressive in walking Izzy down, which he managed to accomplish.

Couldn't disagree with you more, also my comments are opinions, so you can't really say opinions are off base. I also congratulated Pereira in my post so saying I take credit from him is kind of silly. For the finish, it started when Pereira landed the left hook he was looking for all fight and was always just an inch or two away. It's the same punch he KOd Izzy with before, same one he got Strickland with, etc. Thats his punch, and when it landed it was the beginning of the end. Everyone knew that was the strike that he needed to land, and he landed it in the 5th. I don't feel he did any significant, substantial, or cumulative damage that would contribute to the ending sequence, it was just that strike that started it. I think Izzy had him doubled up on significant head strikes going into the 5th, so that says where they were at as far as his success up to that point.

I give Pereira a lot of credit because he knew what he needed to do and he did it. I'm not an Izzy fan in the slightest, I had money on Pereira and I'm glad he won. However, I do think Izzy proved in the 3rd round that he had an easy course to victory if he pursued the ground game. He didn't. He tried some half hearted trips in the clinch, but didnt commit to shots or anything of that nature. Maybe he doesn't have it in his arsenal but when you see how big of a mismatch there is on the ground, the high IQ play is to commit to getting the fight there. I think he went into this with something to prove regarding the striking matchup, the comments he made leading up to the fight suggest that the previous fights were in his head, and I think his desire to stand with Alex was his eventual downfall. That's my take, you can have your own but you can't say my opinion is wrong or off base.

As I said initially, congrats Pereira, fun fight fun ending. Hope he gets someone different for his first defense.

 

[MMC]

 

[McGuires Corndog]

This narrative about Izzy's "ego" is off-base and not giving Pereira the credit he deserves.

First with regards to the grappling, it's not like Izzy was taking Pereira down at will the entire fight, in fact it was Pereira who managed to land the first successful takedown. As others have already stated, even the ground sequence in the third round began after Izzy won the scramble on a takedown attempt by Pereira. I'm also pretty sure that I did see Izzy trying to engage the grappling again in the fifth round. So it wasn't some big mistake by Izzy or letting his ego get the best of him that cost him the fight.

And in regards to the "puncher's chance", Pereira didn't finish Izzy with some big shot that came out of no where. It's not as if he had no success with his striking up until that point, the difference is that he needed the finish and had to be more aggressive in walking Izzy down, which he managed to accomplish.

I respectfully disagree.

Izzy had one job in that 5th round and that was to manage distance and not let Pereira get any opportunities to get off that power. He did not actively try to evade the striking exchanges and put himself up against the cage. He could have definitely tried to grapple a bit more in the 5th and he would’ve handily won a decision here. Even if he wasn’t dominating Alex in grappling, he wasn’t going to get knocked out in a grappling exchange.

 

[CDJ]

Couldn't disagree with you more, also my comments are opinions, so you can't really say opinions are off base. I also congratulated Pereira in my post so saying I take credit from him is kind of silly. For the finish, it started when Pereira landed the left hook he was looking for all fight and was always just an inch or two away. It's the same punch he KOd Izzy with before, same one he got Strickland with, etc. Thats his punch, and when it landed it was the beginning of the end. Everyone knew that was the strike that he needed to land, and he landed it in the 5th. I don't feel he did any significant, substantial, or cumulative damage that would contribute to the ending sequence, it was just that strike that started it. I think Izzy had him doubled up on significant head strikes going into the 5th, so that says where they were at as far as his success up to that point.

I give Pereira a lot of credit because he knew what he needed to do and he did it. I'm not an Izzy fan in the slightest, I had money on Pereira and I'm glad he won. However, I do think Izzy proved in the 3rd round that he had an easy course to victory if he pursued the ground game. He didn't. He tried some half hearted trips in the clinch, but didnt commit to shots or anything of that nature. Maybe he doesn't have it in his arsenal but when you see how big of a mismatch there is on the ground, the high IQ play is to commit to getting the fight there. I think he went into this with something to prove regarding the striking matchup, the comments he made leading up to the fight suggest that the previous fights were in his head, and I think his desire to stand with Alex was his eventual downfall. That's my take, you can have your own but you can't say my opinion is wrong or off base.

As I said initially, congrats Pereira, fun fight fun ending. Hope he gets someone different for his first defense.

He didn’t commit to shots because he’s not a wrestler and was outweighed by a massive amount. The only time he got the fight there was because Pereira f***ed up. You’re asking a painter to build a tower. You can’t blame the painters ego when he can’t build said tower.

I respectfully disagree.

Izzy had one job in that 5th round and that was to manage distance and not let Pereira get any opportunities to get off that power. He did not actively try to evade the striking exchanges and put himself up against the cage. He could have definitely tried to grapple a bit more in the 5th and he would’ve handily won a decision here. Even if he wasn’t dominating Alex in grappling, he wasn’t going to get knocked out in a grappling exchange.

Again, hobbled movement. Peroneal nerve damaged. Not a grappler, was eating knees to the body when he tried to initiate. What you guys are suggesting is a lot easier said than done and has nothing to do with his ego. It has to do with his abilities/skillset (or in this case, lack there of )

A KO artist got a KO. It doesn’t have to be more than that. Moncherry is 100% correct.

 

[h2]

I didn't see it, but my favorite ufc thing out of the cage is reporters asking Dana ufc questions as if he actually pays attention to the sport anymore. Hopefully it was along those lines

Pure comedy (time stamped for ya)

 

[m9]

Pure comedy (time stamped for ya)

Good catch, that was great.

 

[1specter]

What a wild few months it's been with some dominant champs losing their belts. Usman, Oliveira and now Adesanya.

 

[m9]

What a wild few months it's been with some dominant champs losing their belts. Usman, Oliveira and now Adesanya.

Oliveira obviously not in that group

 

[CDJ]

Oliveira obviously not in that group

Yeah he’s special in his own right for his accomplishments and how much fun he is but he was not a dominant champion on the level of Usman or Izzy. Chandler and Gaethje almost had him, Islam washed him (and was largely expected to by most)

 

[m9]

Yeah he’s special in his own right for his accomplishments and how much fun he is but he was not a dominant champion on the level of Usman or Izzy. Chandler and Gaethje almost had him, Islam washed him (and was largely expected to by most)

Or more simply, he defended the title successfully one time

 

[CDJ]

Or more simply, he defended the title successfully one time

He did get Poirier too so I think it was 2 but the point remains the same

 

[1specter]

Oliveira obviously not in that group

Was more just about the streak he had cleaning out the top contenders. Adesanya and Usman on another level obviously but by LW standards Charles had a nice run.

 

[m9]

He did get Poirier too so I think it was 2 but the point remains the same

That would be the one defense

 

[CDJ]

That would be the one defense

Won the belt against Chandler, beat Poirier and Gaethje to retain

What am I missing here?

 

[m9]

Won the belt against Chandler, beat Poirier and Gaethje to retain

What am I missing here?

Missed weight vs Gaethje