Fighting

Israel Adesanya was reportedly issued an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal in his brass knuckles case on Tuesday, per TMZ Sports.

In essence, if Adesanya stays out of legal trouble for the next six months, the case will be dismissed.

The UFC fighter was arrested and briefly detained on Nov. 16 after attempting to take a pair of brass knuckles through security at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Police gave Adesanya a written notice and was subject a court appearance on Tuesday.

"Israel was handed a gift by a fan, which he put in his luggage," Adesanya's manager, Tim Simpson, said at the time. "When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item, and cooperated with authorities."

Adesanya, 33, lost the UFC middleweight title belt at UFC 281 on Nov. 12 against Alex Pereira by TKO in the fifth and final round.

That stoppage was somewhat controversial, and Adesanya later told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour podcast that he appeared more wobbly on his feet than he actually was because of a foot injury (h/t James Cooney of the Daily Mail):

I don't blame the referee. Marc [Goddard, the referee] did a good job, but you see it when I get up. I'm fine. I was lucid. I didn't get 'rocked' rocked. I got hit against the fence and my thought was, 'Escape, laterally, either left or right.' I went right and as I was going right—it wasn't because I was rocked, it was my foot. You know, the perineal. It happened to Michael Chandler, [Henry] Cejudo, our boy Jimmy Crute—it happened to him as well.

That loss followed five defenses of that belt and a 2021 loss against Jan Błachowicz for the UFC lightweight championship.

It was also just Adesanya's second loss in his professional MMA career (23-2). It's unclear what is next for Adesanya in the Octagon, though a rematch with Pereira seems likely.

The UFC has announced that fighters coached by James Krause could be banned from the company amid an investigation into a possible improper fight last month.

Per MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell has informed fighters that those who continue to train with Krause will not be permitted to participate in UFC events going forward. This stems from a "suspicious" fight involving Darrick Minner on Nov. 5, which has led to Krause's coach license being suspended in the state of Nevada and Minner being released by the UFC.

As part of the company's statement addressing the matter, Campbell stated "the UFC Athlete Conduct Policy expressly prohibits UFC athletes from placing any wagers (directly or through a third party) on any UFC match, including placing wagers on themselves." The same rules apply to coaches, managers, trainers and anyone else directly affiliated with the athletes or the UFC.

According to ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Krause became the subject of the investigation after Minner lost to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via first-round TKO in questionable fashion. The betting line on the fight shifted hours before they met in the Octagon, with money coming in on Nuerdanbieke to win by first-round knockout or for the fight to last under 2.5 rounds.

Minner appeared to have entered the fight with a leg injury, and the news of him being hobbled reportedly spread to bettors. As the fight played out, Minner threw a kick that appeared to aggravate his injury, opening the door for Nuerdanbieke to earn a quick finish. The UFC later announced that the "wagering activity" leading up to the fight would be "under review."

Krause is a former UFC fighter who successfully transitioned to a highly-regarded head coach at Glory MMA in Missouri. He's also openly involved in sports betting, hosting the 1% Club wagering podcast and a popular Discord channel where he posts betting tips, per Raimondi.

As the fallout continues from the situation surrounding Krause, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario announced Thursday that it is shutting down all UFC betting due to integrity concerns. It remains to be seen if more athletic commissions will follow suit.

Nate Diaz was involved in an altercation with Dillon Danis outside Madison Square Garden at UFC 281 on Saturday night.

Multiple videos showed Diaz slapping someone on the street in New York City:

UFC President Dana White was unsurprised by the skirmish when told of the situation.

"Every time they show up, I expect something to happen," White said of Diaz and his team, per MMA Fighting. "Not much bothers me at this point."

Diaz is no stranger to altercations outside of the Octagon. He previously had skirmishes with Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev, and last month he was forced to leave the Anderson Silva bout against Jake Paul.

His UFC future is also in doubt after failing to sign a new contract before his last bout.

The 37-year-old defeated Tony Ferguson in September with a fourth-round submission, which was just his second fight since 2019.

Since his last high-profile bout against McGregor in 2016, Diaz has just two wins in four appearances.

The veteran is now making more headlines for his unsanctioned fighting than his actual bouts.

When Alex Pereira came into New York’s Madison Square Garden for the main event of UFC 281, he did so as a bit of a novelty. He was “that kickboxing guy who beat Israel Adesanya twice,” sent here to balance a competitive equation. But this was MMA, and Adesanya was the middleweight champion of the world.

When Pereira departed the Garden a few hours later, he did so as the UFC’s new middleweight champion.

Pereira’s gas tank held up under Adesanya’s clinch-control strategy, as the Brazilian came back in a bout he was losing on the scorecards to notch a TKO stoppage at 2:01 of the fifth and final round.

“It was a hard fight, but I go through hard fights every day at the gym,” Pereira told UFC broadcaster and podcaster Joe Rogan through a translator in the cage after the fight. “For everybody who said I couldn’t do five rounds, look at what I just did right now. I’m ready for whoever’s next.”

It was rather surreal to watch UFC president Dana White slip the middleweight title around the waist of a man most viewers had probably never laid eyes on before Saturday. This was only Pereira’s fifth fight in pro MMA and fourth under the UFC banner.

We all knew why he was here: because he held two wins over Adesanya in the kickboxing world, where Pereira is a decorated champion. (He departed kickboxing in 2021 with a record of 33-7 with 21 knockouts.) Never mind that neither of his wins over Adesanya was particularly dominant. Never mind that for all his kickboxing dominance, as a 35-year-old specialist, his MMA prospects were fair-to-middling. Pereira was a fresh foil for Adesanya, the talented and charismatic champion who was running out of challengers in the thin 185-pound division.

The matchup was full of stylistic intrigue. Pereira is a relentless knockout seeker, Adesanya the learning-computer counter fighter. Pereira has precious little MMA experience and hasn’t shown a lot of success to date on the ground. Did Adesanya have the wrestling or the desire to take advantage?

Round 1 had some solid moments for both men, but the offense didn’t come until the literal last second. As the clock reached just one second, a big straight right from Adesanya landed just behind Pereira’s ear. Then, a left hook landed across Pereira’s jaw and wobbled the challenger just after the horn sounded. (It was deemed a legal blow because Adesanya began the strike motion before the horn.)

Round 2 saw both men score off their jabs. Man, Pereira hits hard, and he made a few left hands count down the stretch. Interestingly, Adesanya tried for two takedowns but couldn’t land either one. But then in the final seconds, Pereira likely sealed the round for himself by grabbing his own takedown—not the kind of technique you’d see in the Olympics, but it counted.

Round 3 saw Adesanya finally land his first career takedown. Although there were some nice shots from both men, the signature of this round was the champ’s control in the grappling phase, which together amounted to nearly 3:50 of control time, per UFC stats. It also contained the lowest striking output of the fight, in which just 20 significant strikes landed between them.

Round 4 saw Adesanya try to wear down Pereira with clinch time, but both men remained frisky in the championship rounds. Adesanya likely took the round on output, outlanding Pereira 20-15 and adding more than a minute of control time.

The final stanza saw Pereira come out with aggression. The fateful sequence began about halfway through the round. Having backed the champ against the fence, Pereira connected on a stinging jab and followed it with a brisk right hand. An uppercut followed, and Adesanya began to retreat. Pereira gave chase and walloped the champ with a left hook, then another uppercut, and after that Adesanya was on his skates in earnest. Another flurry and Adesanya tumbled to the ground, only to quickly pop back to his feet. The barrage continued, and although Adesanya kept his feet, it was clear he was in dire straits. Referee Marc Goddard stepped in to call the TKO. Adesanya protested, but by all appearances Goddard was well within his rights to stop it.

So what’s next? Is a rematch a fait accompli? It will probably happen at some point, especially in a shallow division like middleweight, but it doesn’t need to be right away. Let’s see what Pereira can do against someone like Robert Whittaker. Why not let this breathe a bit?

That said, if you have to bet on an outcome here, bet on the rematch. No need to risk taking away all the heat of this rivalry with a Pereira loss to Marvin Vettori. Early indications are the UFC may be receptive to a rematch.

As that sorts itself out, Adesanya remains one of the greatest middleweights to ever do it, but for now he’s living with a pretty big blemish on his record. Then again, every Superman has his kryptonite. Adesanya just learned his kryptonite can’t be so easily disposed of.