Kenny Florian explains how Israel Adesanya could have avoided getting TKO'd by Alex Pereira at UFC 281

UFC veteran and analyst Kenny Florian recently weighed in on Israel Adesanya's UFC 281 title loss to Alex Pereira. 'Poatan' scored a fifth-round TKO comeback win over Adesanya whilst the former champion was still on his feet but with his back against the cage.

Florian first drew attention to the fact that Adesanya already had his back against the cage when the finishing sequence started. 'Ken Flo' believes Adesanya's lead leg was somewhat compromised after eating Pereira's leg kicks. The 46-year-old said:

"Why did he have his back up against the cage? I think those lead left kicks really did a lot of damage."

While both fighters threw leg kicks, Florian believes Pereira's were more effective due to his visible size advantage. Since Adesanya was trying to survive against the cage, 'Ken Flo' suggested a move that could have prevented the TKO.

Florian believes Adesanya could have stopped Pereira's lethal signature left hook by consistently slapping away the Brazilian's left hand. The 46-year-old continued:

"If you're gonna try to survive up against the cage, as I would have liked to see... is to take away that lead hand. I would have liked to see, like a tentacle, that lead hand is trying to slap away the lead of Pereira. Why? That's his most dangerous weapon. That left hook was cultivated and created by Satan himself."

Watch Florian's comments below (4:30):

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Israel Adesanya has blamed his UFC 281 loss on leg kicks

Israel Adesanya was clearly outpointing Alex Pereira before getting caught by the fateful left hook in round five. However, 'The Last Stylebender' revealed that his footwork was compromised after eating calf kicks from Pereira.

Shortly before getting TKO'ed, Adesanya lost his footing and went down after getting a kick checked. According to the former middleweight champion, the peroneal nerve on his lead leg was damaged. The 33-year-old said during the post-fight media scrum:

"My leg happened. He got calf kicks on and invested well. He hit my peroneal nerve. So that’s why my footwork was compromised. Even when I tripped and went backwards, I had to do the rolie polie. I just tripped over, it’s not like me. Kudos to him for investing in those calf kicks, because it cost me."

Watch Israel Adesanya's appearance at the post-fight presser below: