"If you watch his walkout, it's the first time in a while... there was nothing" - Anthony Smith recalls getting a "weird vibe" from a "different" Israel Adesanya ahead of Alex Pereira fight

Anthony Smith recently spoke about his observations of Israel Adesanya being in a serious and solemn state of mind before his fight against Alex Pereira.

On a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast, 'Lionheart' spoke about his thoughts on Adesanya's apparent mindset and serious walkout before his fight against Pereira:

"Everyone was getting a weird vibe from Izzy. He seemed a little different... If you look at his walkout, it was the first time in a while there was no dancing, no singing; there was nothing. There was no show. It was all business."

Smith continued:

"But Pereira. He was putting off a weird vibe for everyone too. It was very killer-esque. Like I'm here for business and there's no fu**ing around and he was very serious and stoic all week long."

Watch the full podcast episode below:

Israel Adesanya walked into the octagon to face 'Poatan' at UFC 281 without any extravagant dances or antics, which he is known for.

Both Smith and podcast host Michael Bisping agreed that this could be explained by the fact that both fighters realized the gravity of their bout. The two middleweights share history, with Pereira having beaten Adesanya twice in kickboxing before.

Pereira emerged victorious at UFC 281. Having knocked out Adesanya in the fifth-round, 'Poatan' laid claim to the middleweight title.

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Israel Adesanya says he was "fine" when referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

Israel Adesanya saw history repeat itself at UFC 281 as he lost his middleweight title to his former kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira.

While it looked like Adesanya was about to win the bout via decision, Pereira surprised the champ and everyone watching with a brutal left hook that caught him against the cage. The Brazilian then continued to fire shots at the Nigerian-born Kiwi until the referee decided to stop the fight.

On a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Israel Adesanya sat down with Ariel Helwani to talk about his loss at UFC 281. When asked about the stoppage, he stated:

"I was just trying to keep it moving. When he [Marc Goddard] stopped it, first thing I thought was, I'm fine ref. I'm fine. What the hell? I'm a champion. I don't blame him. Marc's a good referee...You've reffed the [Kevin] Gastellum fight. You've seen where I can go. You should have that kind of faith in me."

While many claimed that the referee stopped the encounter too early, some are of the opinion that it was the right decision. Adesanya has subsequently called for a immediate rematch against Pereira, but with no official confirmation yet, it remains to be seen if he gets it.