Mike Tyson’s incredible reaction to Israel Adesanya’s brutal TKO loss to Pereira revealed ahead of crunch UFC 287 clash
MIKE TYSON’s incredible reaction to Israel Adesanya’s loss to Alex Pereira has been revealed.
The Nigerian-born New Zealander suffered a last-gasp fifth-round TKO defeat to his arch-nemesis last November at UFC 281 in New York City.
Adesanya was cruising to a unanimous decision victory before being caught with a hellacious left hook late in the fifth and eating a barrage of strikes that prompted ref Marc Goddard to stop the contest.
Fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden were left gobsmacked at the spectacular ending of Adesanya’s reign as middleweight king.
But none more so than boxing legend Mike Tyson – who had one of the best seats in the house at MSG.
Tyson leapt out of his chair – which was behind UFC commentators Joe Rogan, Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier – and threw his hands up in astonishment.
Adesanya, 33, will bid to reclaim the middleweight strap from Pereira early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 287 in Miami.
Team Adesanya won’t make drastic changes to their strategy against Pereira, who head coach Eugene Bareman has likened to Tyson.
He told It’s Time For Sports: “One of the hardest things in the sport is to fight someone like Pereira.
“People like him don’t really exist.
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“In your fighting career, you will fight one or two guys like that. One George Foreman, one Mike Tyson.
“If you’re lucky you’ll fight one of them.
“It is one of the hardest things to do in the sport because even though you see many clear paths to victory, they have a special gift.
“And that special gift is powerful.
“The ability to take you out with one shot has to be respected and is a superpower that not everybody has.
“So I understand the magnitude of what we’re trying to do and we’re up for the challenge.”
Defeat in Miami this weekend would be the fourth time Adesanya has come up short against the hard-hitting Pereira, who bested him twice in kickboxing.
And The Last Stylebender admits their latest meeting will likely be his last chance to get one over his long-time rival.
Adesanya said on his YouTube channel: “This is kind of poetic, in a way.
“This is my last shot, and I’m gonna give it all I got.”