"Izzy is a legend" - Andrew Tate shuts down troll mocking Israel Adesanya 'pulling the reverse' Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya has found himself an unlikely ally in controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate. In the wake of his TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia, 'The Last Stylebender' has become the subject of mockery from the MMA fandom.

One fan in particular poked fun at Adesanya for unsuccessfully emulating reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. During the bout, he, much like Pereira at UFC 300, halted the referee from intervening after he was fouled by his opponent.

However, while 'Poatan went on to knock out Jamahal Hill seconds afterward, Adesanya was instead floored by Imavov and TKO'd by subsequent ground-and-pound, causing a fan to say the following:

"Izzy pulled the reverse pereira. Waved off the ref and got sparked 10 seconds later lmfao"

This drew Tate's attention, who replied to the fan with criticism as he defended the former UFC middleweight champion from the mockery.

"I hate when people who don't have the balls to step in the cage type things like "LMFAO." Laughing at the warrior to feel better about being a coward. Izzy is a legend and braver than 99.99% of men alive. Masculine men show respect to those braver than them. Hating is feminine."

Tate has enjoyed a level of support from the UFC roster, with former bantamweight champions like Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley expressing their admiration for him. Similarly, Khamzat Chimaev is also a fan. Meanwhile, 'The Last Stylebender' has stopped short of supporting Tate.

Instead, he questioned the legitimacy of the charges brought against Tate, who has been charged with sexual assault, human trafficking, and more.

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Andrew Tate and Israel Adesanya are both former kickboxers

Andrew Tate and Israel Adesanya come from similar backgrounds. However, the difference lies in how far they both went in combat sports. Tate never truly reached the highest level of kickboxing, despite capturing low-level world titles. Adesanya, by contrast, left kickboxing to pursue MMA.

Check out Andrew Tate kickboxing:

In MMA, Adesanya captured UFC middleweight gold, defending the belt several times. When it comes to kickboxing, though, Adesanya won several regional King in the Ring titles, and also claimed a Glory middleweight tournament trophy. Meanwhile, Tate has won several ISKA titles.