UFC champ Israel Adesanya's stunning Alex Pereira injury confession
Excruciating moment UFC champ Israel Adesanya cries out in agony as his knee is seriously injured just a WEEK before his stunning knockout win over Alex Pereira
- NZ-based fighter fought hurt at UFC 287
- Picked up injury during sparring session
- Refused to even think about pulling out of bout
Israel Adesanya’s stunning knockout win over long-time rival Alex Pereira has been made even more impressive by the UFC world champion’s stunning revelation that he seriously injured his knee just a week before the fight.
The New Zealand-based star laid the Brazilian out with a pair of brutal right hands and hammer fists in the second round at UFC 287 on April 9, taking him to his first victory over Pereira in four meetings.
But just days earlier he was writhing in agony on a practice mat after tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in a sparring session gone badly wrong.
Adesanya’s injury was captured on video, with the middleweight king providing a voiceover describing the shocking accident on his YouTube channel.
This is the instant Adesanya was left yelling in pain after his leg buckled under him during a sparring session just days out from UFC 287
The middleweight champ’s sparring partner (right) hooked his leg around the fighter’s right knee as he threw him to the mat in a training session that went badly wrong
His sparring partner hooks his leg behind the champion’s right knee as he throws him down and the joint buckles as he collapses to the mat, screaming out in pain.
‘Damn! It was painful,’ Adesanya said as the footage shows him grimacing on the ground just after the throw.
‘I said, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK!’ – I just didn’t want anyone to freak out.’
He points to a spot on the inside of his knee in the video and a bystander who came over to check on him is heard saying ‘MCL’ as the champ groans while trying to straighten his leg before eventually standing up.
‘I should have stopped,’ Adesanya said.
‘I remember the feeling as well – it was, like, hot. It felt hot, like a burning feeling.’
Incredibly, he kept practising stand-up grappling with the sparring partner straight after being hurt.
Adesanya stayed down until a bystander came over and examined his knee and was heard saying ‘MCL’ as soon as the champ showed him where the injury was
He then received physiotherapy, ultrasounds, and had treatment with magnets to try to speed up the healing process.
The medial collateral ligament connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (lower leg bone), prevents the leg from extending too far inward and also allows the joint to rotate while remaining stable.
MCL injuries usually happen when the knee is hit or bent badly on the outer side, and they often heal well without the need for surgery.
Suffering a grade 1 tear to the ligament like Adesanya did is a huge blow to any UFC fighter, as it badly hampers their movement in the octagon, not to mention their ability to deliver kicks and evade blows.
Adesanya said pulling out of the fight never crossed his mind because he’s used to competing while hurt.
‘I’ve been here before. My UFC debut, three weeks out, I did my right ankle.
‘I remember the next day calling [a physiotherapist] and being like, “Yo, I need to see you ASAP.” He had to reinjure it or cause pain to it.
Tearing the medial collateral ligament is a major blow to any fighter as it destabilises the knee, leaves them vulnerable to further injury and makes it hard for them to move and kick in the octagon – but it didn’t bother Adesanya as he dismantled Pereira (pictured)
The NZ-based title holder already has his heart set on his next opponent after his stunning second-round knockout in Florida
‘I remember biting on a towel and sitting there in pain, screaming as he’s f***ing massaging my ankle where it’s not supposed to be massaged.’
The Nigerian-born octagon superstar is already planning his next fight and is desperate to take on South Africa’s middleweight title contender, Dricus du Plessis.
There is plenty of bad blood between the pair after du Plessis accused Adesanya of not being a real African because he left Nigeria for a life in New Zealand and said he would be the first fighter to take a world title belt to the continent.
‘I’m the African fighter in the UFC. Myself and Cameron [Saaiman, Du Plessis’ teammate], we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day,’ he said.
‘We train in Africa, we’re African born, we’re African raised. We still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa. That’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be.’
An infuriated Adesanya hit back on Wednesday as he repeatedly directed a racial slur at du Plessis.
South African Dricus du Plessis (pictured) has infuriated Adesanya by claiming he’s not a real African – leading the 33-year-old champ to hit back with a racial slur
‘I’m going to f***ing take him to school, in the Octagon and on history,’ said Adesanya.
‘What he’s doing is creating divide. You can’t know your history, I have never questioned him as an African, because yeah, you were born in Africa. South Africa.
‘Of course you’re an African. I have never questioned that. But who the f**k is this cracker to tell me who the f**k I am? Who the f**k Kamaru is, who the f**k Ngannou is? I’m like, are you dumb? As a product of colonisation, you’re trying to tell me who the f**k I am.’
The word ‘cracker’ is a term used to describe poor white people and believed by many to be short for ‘whip cracker’.
While its origin isn’t clear-cut, some believe it’s a reference to white people who were involved in the slave trade.
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