UFC: Israel Adesanya to earn N1.8bn despite loss to Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya, despite early Sunday’s defeat to his Brazilian opponent Alex Pereira, is anticipated to make more than N1.8bn ($2.6 million) from the fight, including a basic salary of N1.4bn ($2 million), a PPV payout of N426m ($600,000), and sponsorship profits of N29.8m ($42,000), according to MMA Salaries. The projected salary for Alex Pereira is N235.7m ($332,000).

Recall that at UFC 281, which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, Nigeria’s Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya lost for the second time in his career. He was defeated by Brazilian opponent Alex Pereira.

In the early rounds of the duel, The Last Stylebender was in the lead. He lost the fight against Pereira in the decisive round, though. The defeat means that Adesanya has lost his UFC middleweight title to Pereira.

The Brazilian won both kickboxing matches between the long-standing rivals, the most recent being a knockout victory against Israel Adesanya in 2017.

Adesanya has won three straight matches, defeating Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker, and Marvin Vettori since suffering his first career defeat to Jan Blachowicz in March. The Nigerian will now attempt to build upon the setback and work even harder as the winning streak has broken as a result of this defeat.

Drake loses over N600m from betting on Israel Adesanya

Drake, a Canadian rapper, lost money as a result of Israel Adesanya’s early-Sunday defeat to Brazilian rival Alex Pereira.

According to reports, Drake bet CA$2,000,000 on the Nigerian mixed martial artist hoping to win CA$2,900,000. His strategy, however, failed when Adesanya was knocked out just before the fight’s conclusion.

Going into the final round, Adesanya had a 3-1 lead, but Pereira, who had received clear instructions from his corner to defeat the “Last Stylebender,” did just that, causing him to suffer his division’s first loss and giving the Brazilian his third win.