Michel Pereira’s controversial finish gets acknowledgment from Israel Adesanya.

Israel Adesanya applauds Michel Pereira (Image via: IMAGO, X)

Michel Pereira had an impressive but controversial showing at UFC 301. Pereira made quick work of short-notice replacement Ihor Potieria in the first round of the fight.

Though he appeared to land an illegal knee/kick. Nevertheless, fellow UFC middleweight Israel Adesanya applauded the performance of the Brazilian.

Pereira finished Potieria via guillotine choke 54 seconds into the fight. After he dropped the Ukrainian fighter.

Pereira landed a backflip kick on the grounded Potieria. A portion of his shin appeared to land on his opponent’s face.

Nonetheless, the fight did not end in a DQ. In his recent YouTube video, Adesanya showed appreciation for Pereira.

Back flip to a knee to the face on the ground…Ni**a did that f*cking Tekken combo.

Israel Adesanya via FREESTYLEBENDER

Adesanya always does reaction videos of UFC events, especially PPVs. As such, he did the same for UFC 301. Even though many felt the PPV card did not deserve to have a $80 price tag.

Adesanya stated that the performance of fighters in it was worth the pay. The performance of Pereira was one reason why. The Brazilian now has three consecutive finishes at middleweight and eight wins overall.

Like Adesanya, Pereira has also danced his way through the walkouts. He did it in his previous fight against Michał Oleksiejczuk at UFC 299.

Adesanya danced at the walkouts before he faced Robert Whittaker, then-champion at UFC 243. Though chances are slim, a potential fight between Pereira and Adesanya would provide fireworks for fight fans.

Related: WATCH: Michel Pereira almost knocks out ring girl with back flip at UFC 301 weigh ins

Israel Adesanya speaks on Anthony Smith’s victory at UFC 301

Anthony Smith was a sizeable betting underdog at UFC 301. Bookmakers favored the undefeated and younger Vitor Petrino to climb into the rankings over Smith.

However, Smith upset the odds with a quick guillotine choke victory. Before the fight, rival Alex Pereira had trolled Smith.

Anthony Smith (Image via: IMAGO)

Post victory, Smith credited BJJ for the success in his life. He also accepted a grappling challenge from Pereira.

One person who applauded Smith’s performance was Israel Adesanya, the greatest rival of Alex Pereira. Moreover, he was critical of the rookie mistake Petrino made, resulting in the finish.

He [Vitor Petrino] should have known. He didn’t, he just made it worse by trying to slam. Should’ve just fought the hands straight away.

Israel Adesanya via FREESTYLEBENDER

GOT IT DONE IN 2 MINUTES 🤯

Anthony Smith gets the 1st round sub at #UFC301 pic.twitter.com/3TJNem5oRt

— UFC (@ufc) May 5, 2024

Funnily enough, Smith also revealed in the post-fight press conference that Petrino made a White belt mistake.

Smith stated before the fight that he was above his relatively younger opponent. With his performance at UFC 301, Smith certainly stayed true to his words.

In case you missed it!