Alex Pereira reacts to Sean Strickland dethroning Israel Adesanya at UFC 293

Former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira has reacted to Sean Strickland dethroning Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Adesanya (24-3 MMA) and Strickland (28-5 MMA) squared off for the undisputed UFC middleweight world title in the headliner of tonight’s pay-per-view event in Sydney, Australia.

Izzy was returning to the Octagon for the first time since reclaiming the 185lbs title with a second-round knockout victory over his longtime rival Alex Pereira this past April at UFC 287.

Meanwhile, Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA) entered tonight’s bout sporting a two-fight winning streak, his most recent being a TKO victory over Abusupiyan Magomedov two months ago in Las Vegas. Prior to that, the brash American had earned a unanimous decision win over Nassourdine Imavov in January of this year.

Tonight’s main event did not result in the highlight reel finish that Israel Adesanya had envisioned. Instead, the bout served as a coming out party for Sean Strickland, who was able to get the better of ‘Stylebender’ for the majority of their five-round affair.

After twenty-five minutes of action, which saw Strickland drop Adesanya in the opening round, the American was awarded a much-deserved unanimous decision victory.

Official UFC 293 Result: Sean Strickland def. Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)

Shortly following the result, former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who has stoppage victories over both Adesanya and Strickland on his record, shared the following reaction on ‘X’:

Seems like my plans to go down one more time to Middleweight ran out…

— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) September 10, 2023

“Seems like my plans to go down one more time to Middleweight ran out…” – Pereira tweeted.

Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA) is expected to fight for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in his next Octagon appearance, this after defeating former 205lbs champ Jan Blachowicz in his most recent effort at UFC 291.

‘Poatan’ had previously expressed interest in having a UFC trilogy fight with ‘Stylebender’ at middleweight, but that no longer appears to be a point of interest following tonight’s result.