Israel Adesanya commends Alex Pereira after UFC White House loss: 'He dared to be great'
Israel Adesanya lauded Alex Pereira for attempting to chase history at UFC Freedom 250.
Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) failed to capture the interim heavyweight title when he was finished by Ciryl Gane (14-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in the second round of their co-main event Sunday at the White House in Washington DC.
Adesanya was devastated to see his former foe go down but credited Gane for his game plan.
“Ciryl is no slouch, but f*ck,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Dare to be great. He (Pereira) is a one of one. He’s great. You can’t fault him. That jab, I said it was educated. It’s f*cking accurate. Shoutout to Ciryl, he did it.”
After claiming both the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight belts, Pereira was looking to become the first fighter in company history to win belts in three different divisions.
“Alex Pereira, he dared to be great,” Adesanya said. “He went for it at a new weight, something that’s never been attempted before, never even been fathomed, and he did it. So, congrats to him, but especially congrats to Gane because he’s the one that shut it down, let him know what heavyweight is about. But still, it’s just good to see people attempt or achieve great things.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya: Alex Pereira ‘dared to be great’ at UFC White House
