Israel Adesanya reacts after former opponent Alex Pereira scores a knockout in his UFC debut

Israel Adesanya tuned in to watch his former kickboxing opponent Alex Pereira make his Octagon debut Saturday night at UFC 268.

Pereira (4-1 MMA), a former Glory Kickboxing champion, made his highly anticipated UFC debut last weekend at MSG against Andreas Michailidis.

During his storied kickboxing past, Alex Pereira scored two victories over reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, the second of which was a nasty KO.

With that being said, many fans and analysts were hoping the former Glory champ would emerge victorious at MSG.

Saturday’s featured prelim between Pereira and Michailidis ended in violent fashion. After a clinch-filled opening round, the Brazilian was able to utilize his early separation in round two to throw and land a flying knee. The strike left Andreas Michailidis in a heap on the canvas (see that here).

Alex Pereira flying knee KO at UFC 268

In a video posted to his personal YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya can be seen providing his live reaction to the fight and subsequent KO.

“It’s pretty much like me and (Derek) Brunson – he’s trying to find a way (to take him down) cause he’s scared of the striking,” Adesanya said in the video (h/t MMAJunkie). “Cause you know he’s going to shoot, well-timed knee just straight up. Bang. There it is. I thought he was going to do it when he shot in, but I didn’t think he was going to fly at him.” 

Israel Adesanya continued and suggested he hopes to see Alex Pereira in the next four fights.

“We talked about this like two days ago. We need something new. Especially after you lap the division again. … Good job Pereira, that was nice. One thing I notice is everyone always holds on to that win he has over me like it’s the be all end all. I hope he does well. I hope he does well through the ranks. In the next four fights, I hope to see him. They’ll show you the knockout, but they won’t show you what happened before the finish. I hurt him, but I only throw (hands) because I was infiltrated by other people’s thoughts. But that was when I was younger. Not anymore. It’s different now. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”