There’s nothing like some fiery corner work going into the last round of a mixed martial arts (MMA) championship fight.
In a bout where he was down on the judges scorecards, Alex Pereira — who stormed back to finish Israel Adesanya late at UFC 281 last night (Sat., Nov. 12, 2022) inside Madison Square Garden (watch highlights) — was informed by his passionate coaches, including former Light Heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira, that he had to go out and knockout “The Last Stylebender” to win 185-pound gold.
And, incredibly, he did just that ... to the shock and awe of those in attendance in New York City and watching around the world.
The audio was captured and translated, and UFC President, Dana White, loved every second of it.
“I don’t know if you guys have headphones over on your side, but the corner in Pereira’s corner that round was like straight out of a movie,” White told the media during UFC 281’s post-fight press conference (watch it here).
Pereira's corner two minutes before he became a UFC champion ️ #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/BV7gEgBP9n
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 13, 2022
“I wanted to hear what the corner work was going to be, so I put the headphones on,” he added. “One of his trainers, I don’t know who it was, was like, ‘you’re losing this f—king fight. You need to knock him out in this round. You have to move forward. You have to throw punches in bunches you have to throw combinations. Let your f—king hands go. You’re going to be a world champion in five minutes.’ And then he gets up and goes out there. And it was seriously straight out of the movie,” White ended.
Pereira was indeed down on all judges scorecards 39-37, which were released shortly after the fight.
#UFC281 Official Scorecard: @AlexPereiraUFC vs Israel Adesanya
— UFC News (@UFCNews) November 13, 2022
See every scorecard here ➡️ https://t.co/FG22YYBzCw pic.twitter.com/fczwLCnvnf
The fourth round cornering was eerily similar to what happened to Leon Edwards before he knocked out Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 back in August.
Perhaps fiery round four cornering might be the best base in title fights these days ... just maybe.
For complete UFC 281: “Adesanya Vs. Pereira” results and play-by-play, click HERE.
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