Israel Adesanya thinks he would have reached the final bell of his UFC title fight with Alex Pereira if Steve Mazzagatti was the referee for the fight.
Middleweight champion Adesanya, 33, was looking to make the sixth defence of his title in the main event of UFC 281 in New York this past weekend, but he came up short after being knocked out in the fifth round by former kickboxing rival Pereira. The stoppage was debated by fans as some feel that Adesanya should have been given more time from referee Marc Goddard to recover from the fight-ending sequence.
'The Last Stylebender' gave a tongue-in-cheek comment after the fight in which he suggested controversial referee Mazzagatti would have let the fight go on. "My ego would say, 'At least let me go out on my shield.' I don't think I would have gone out, because I was still there. I've seen worse stoppages, bring back Steve Mazzagatti, I would have been fine. He might have won that round but I would still be the champion," he said.
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Mazzagatti, a former firefighter, was one of the most controversial referees in MMA and was heavily criticised for often stopping fights too late. UFC boss Dana White once labelled Mazzagatti a "f****ng toolbox" for not picking up on Jon Fitch being choked unconscious in his 2013 fight against Josh Burkman. Adesanya doubled down on his comments about the referee by later tweeting "Petition to bring back Steve Mazzagatti".
The loss marks Adesanya's third to Pereira in his combat sports career, losing a decision in their first kickboxing fight and being knocked out in their rematch. The Nigerian-born Kiwi was in good spirits after the loss despite Pereira stopping him from matching UFC legend Anderson Silva's record for the most consecutive wins in middleweight history with 12.
“F****ng crazy end. Similar to the last time. Same story. It’s crazy,” Adesanya said after the fight. “He’s durable and he recovers well. Even in the fifth round, I knew he was going to come strong because he was down. Same thing as last time again. It’s another great story for him, but it’s not over. This is still war.”
Pereira thinks the referee's decision to stop the fight was correct, stating: "I tried to pace myself but going into the last round my corner kept it real with me and told me I needed to knock him out. Adesanya was taking some pretty heavy hits and the referee is there to keep him safe, so I think the stoppage was correct. A lot of emotions went through my head, so many years of hard work and dedication, now here I am as the champion of the world."
