Adesanya's coach explains crucial mistake made by former champion in loss to Imavov

Mike Angove believes Adesanya was wrong to not allow the referee to intervene after the eye poke

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Nassourdine Imavov knocked out Israel adesanya No. UFC Saudi Arabia (Photo: Instagram/UFC)

Last Saturday (1), in the main fight of UFC Saudi Arabia, Israel adesanya ended up knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov and suffering his third consecutive defeat in the octagon. Coach of the former middleweight champion (up to 83,9 kg) in the stand-up fight, Mike Angove pointed out the crucial error made by the Nigerian that culminated in the setback.

In a recent interview with the 'Submission Radio' podcast, from 'MMA Junkie', Angove pointed out the referee's brief interruption due to a poke in the eye suffered by Adesanya as being essential for the knockout achieved by Imavov, without leaving aside the merits of the Frenchman.

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“The rule of the game, especially with small gloves, is: you can’t make mistakes. We made a mistake. Nassourdine and his team recognized that we made a mistake and took advantage of it. We have to congratulate them for that. Izzy got poked in the eye. There was a brief interruption. Izzy didn’t want the interruption. Instead, he didn’t ‘reset’ like you normally would, creating space. That put him in the danger zone. It happens. He felt he was in the fight and wanted to keep the pressure on, but Nassourdine caught him with a beautiful right hand that resonated throughout the arena,” analyzed the coach.

In Angove's opinion, the finger received by Adesanya in itself was not relevant to the result, but rather the posture with which the Nigerian returned to action before being knocked out.

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“He was hit in the eye. It distracts you momentarily, but he could see clearly when the action resumed. He had to be careful. A seasoned professional will create distance when a referee stops the game. You have to create your space. Either you reset or you circle back to the center. But in the heat of the moment, he wanted to keep the pressure on. That’s what happens, that’s the fight. At the end of the day, it’s just a fight and we have to deal with it,” he concluded.

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