Israel Adesanya has called out Alex Pereira for his next title defence after retaining his middleweight championship by beating Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC 276 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Adesanya’s superiority in striking was evident in the octagon as Cannonier could not land any telling blow, with ‘The Last Stylebender’ keeping him at bay while picking him apart with jabs and kicks to the body and legs.
Overall, Adesanya out struck his American opponent 163-141, including 116-90 in significant strikes.
At the end of 5 rounds, the judges scored the bout 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45 for the Lagos-born fighter for his 6th straight successful title defence.
The 32-year-old has prior wins over Robert Whittaker (twice), Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.
After the fight, Adesanya called out former kick-boxing rival Alex Pereira after the Brazilian knocked out Sean Strickland on the undercard of UFC 276.
“The first time was an error on my part spamming the right hand but that was in kickboxing. … next time I punch you, you will be on skates and you’re gonna be frozen like Elsa.
“I will leave it at that,” the middleweight champion asserted.
Adesanya, however, gave credit to the Brazilian for his knockout win over Strickland but insisted he is the better all-round fighter and will show him what mixed martial arts is all about.
Pereira has two wins over Adesanya in their kickboxing days, including one by knockout.
Meanwhile, with his latest win, the Last Stylebender remains unbeaten at 185 pounds in the UFC with a 12-0 record in the middleweight division.
He is the fourth fighter in UFC history to win 12 fights in one weight class, joining welterweight champion and fellow Nigerian, Kamaru Usman, former middleweight champion Anderson Silva and former lightweight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov.