Who did Israel Adesanya lose to in kickboxing?

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has lost five times during his kickboxing career. Adesanya's most convincing loss came in his second fight against Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 15.

The fight against the Brazilian took place in March 2017 and also marked the only knockout loss of 'The Last Stylebender's' career.

Watch Adesanya getting KOed by Pereira below:

Interestingly, Pereira holds two victories against the UFC middleweight champion, albeit in kickboxing. The Brazilian also bested the Kiwi in their 2016 fight at Glory of Heroes 1 via unanimous decision.

The UFC superstar's first kickboxing loss came all the way back in 2014 in a convincing unanimous decision loss at Kunlun Fight 2 against former two-time Glory middleweight champion Simon Marcus.

Watch the full fight below:

In January 2017, 'The Last Stylebender' also suffered a unanimous decision loss to another former Glory middleweight champion, Jason Wilnis. Adesanya also lost in his Glory debut against Filip Verlinden at Glory 15: Istanbul via unanimous decision.

Watch Adesanya vs. Wilnis below:

The Nigerian-New Zealander holds a kickboxing record of 75 wins against five losses. Surprisingly, the UFC's fifth-ranked pound-for-pound fighter never became a Glory champion during his tenure in kickboxing.

Israel Adesanya avenged the biggest and most significant loss of his combat sports career in MMA

Israel Adesanya’s rivalry with archrival Alex Pereira has transcended sports and culminated in a historic series of events in combat sports history. The duo first met in a kickboxing match in 2016 when Pereira walked away with a decision win by a razor-thin margin.

The second meeting, however, haunted ‘The Last Stylebender’ for a very long time. After controlling the fight for the most part, Adesanya fell prey to Pereira’s infamous left hook.

The highlight reel of the KO has been one of the lowest points of Israel Adesanya’s fighting career. Fast forward to 2022, Alex Pereira followed his archrival into MMA and fought him in the title fight at UFC 281. The fight played out in the exact same manner as the second kickboxing match and Pereira dethroned his old foe via fifth-round TKO.

With a demoralizing 0-3 combined record against ‘Poatan’ in kickboxing and MMA, Israel Adesanya went into the UFC 287 rematch with a chip on his shoulder. An overly aggressive Alex Pereira succumbed to ‘The Last Stylebender’s devastating overhand right, losing via second-round KO.

The win put an epic ending to the long-drawn rivalry and the visual of Adesanya enacting firing arrows at the unconscious ‘Poatan’ was forever etched into history as one of the greatest post-fight celebrations.