Michael Bisping has mixed feelings about the way things went down in the main event of UFC 281.
The former UFC middleweight champion believes referee Marc Goddard did a fine job in stopping the title fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira when he did, but he can also understand why Adesanya feels it was premature.
Adesanya lost his UFC middleweight belt this past Saturday to his kickboxing rival. Adesanya, who was winning the fight 39-37 heading into the fifth round, was caught and wobbled by one of Pereira’s shots. He never went down to the canvas, but was visibly hurt. That was enough for Goddard to stop the fight.
“To be honest, I don’t think it was stopped early,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel regarding the stoppage. “However, I think there’s a debate and discussion to have. If I were Israel, I’d be pretty annoyed. I love Marc Goddard, he’s one of the best in the business, I’m not saying that. But from a fighter’s perspective, if I want to have my belt taken off me, I want to be been choked unconscious and left on the floor in Madison Square Garden. That’s exactly what GSP did to me.
“I think at that level of the game, you can let it go a little bit longer, but fighter’s safety is absolutely paramount. Izzy was looking at the floor, but he was on the feet and kind of moving the head. So that is somewhat defensive. But still, nonetheless, it still wasn’t a bad stoppage.”
As far as what may come next. Bisping feels Adesanya has done enough to deserve an immediate chance at recovering his belt.
“Me, personally, I think Izzy deserves a rematch,” Bisping said. “I think he’s been such a great champion. He’s been entertaining. He’s been charismatic. He’s been a workhorse for the UFC. They said it in the commentary there, ever since Izzy won the belt, he’s competed in 20 percent of the UFC’s title fights. I mean, that is phenomenal. What a schedule.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
