Two years ago, Israel Adesanya used a 200 IQ tactic against Alex Pereira at UFC 287. Talking about his approach, ‘The Last Stylebender’ revealed that he absorbed ‘Poatan’s onslaught against the cage by playing possum to catch the Brazilian off guard. As we know, the Nigerian-Kiwi landed that right hand, creating a highlight-reel moment in Miami. But when his UFC Seattle opponent indicated doing the same, fans didn’t believe him.

At Climate Pledge Arena, Joe Pyfer defeated the former two-time middleweight champion with a TKO, securing the biggest win of his career. So, shedding some light on his tactics, ‘Bodybagz’ revealed that he also used the possum tactic to trap Adesanya for the KO.

“No. Because I kind of gave him that look that, ‘Oh, that calf kick really hurt,’ and it was kind of intentional,” Pyfer told FullSend. “Because the second I saw, he smelled blood in the water, kind of what he thought he smelled, I was like, let him come to me.”

“Because I’m trying to get to him and he was like moving… moving… moving. The second, I was like I’m tired of chasing him, and he calf kicked me, he started coming towards me, and I’m gonna just let it go,” he added.  

In the fight, Israel Adesanya looked aggressive from the get-go, targeting Joe Pyfer with jabs while mixing in leg kicks. While ‘Bodybagz’ did well handling the UFC legend’s striking, often leaning on his grappling, he failed to check many of those leg kicks, which began to add up over time. According to ESPN FightCenter, ‘The Last Stylebender’ landed 12 of 13 leg kicks.

However, during the second round, the former champ started landing cracking right hands and combinations, damaging Pyfer on multiple occasions. Still, Adesanya chose to trade with ‘Bodybagz’ in the pocket. As a result, both UFC Seattle headliners engaged in a heated exchange, and at one point, Pyfer began landing clean strikes on ‘Izzy’ against the cage, and the commentators also noted during the broadcast that it was the Nigerian-born fighter who appeared to be playing possum, not his opponent. 

Following that sequence, Pyfer took Adesanya down and unleashed heavy ground-and-pound to finish the fight in the second round. With no controversy surrounding the Penn State slugger’s victory, fans were quick to chime in about his apparent “possum” approach, similar to what Adesanya had done against Alex Pereira in their rematch. 

Fans react to Joe Pyfer playing possum against Israel Adesanya  

One fan chimed in and wrote, “I doubt that he was intentionally putting up a bait 😂”. Following that, another user called Joe Pyfer, “Guy is a pathological liar.” After that, another fan commented that it was ‘Bodybagz’s wrestling that actually got him the victory, “Yeah that’s not what happened at all. You took him down and he can’t wrestle. Hence you won. He was piecing you up on the feet.”

On the feet, both fighters actually went toe to toe. While Israel Adesanya definitely had more accuracy, Pyfer’s left hooks had a more damaging impact. However, it was the 29-year-old’s takedown attempts that actually created the difference. But playing possum? That seems to be less of a case in Pyfer’s brilliant approach.

Continuing the disbelief, another user wrote, “lol bro is so happy he’s just saying anything rn 😂”. Then another sarcastically said that Adesanya deliberately gave the back, writing, “Dumba— just trying to spread lies, Izzy saw that he was dominating and felt bad so he let Joe take his back.”

Again, Joe Pyfer’s double-leg attempts came at the right moment, which actually took the fight away from Adesanya. But getting into an exchange battle with ‘Bodybagz’ was a mistake, as the former champ was visibly wobbly from the strikes. Hence, it was tough for ‘The Last Stylebender’ to fend off the last takedown.

That said, not everyone was against Pyfer’s claims. After listening to the American fighter’s tactics, a fan wrote, “Izzy got out-possum’d!” Following that comment, another user added, “Mf—s saying all kind of bulls—t but ain’t giving Pyfer his credit.”

Well, Joe Pyfer is definitely getting the credit for getting the biggest win of his career, but only Israel Adesanya can confirm whether the middleweight contender was actually playing possum with the leg kicks or not.

That said, what do you think? Do you believe that Joe Pyfer was actually faking it against the former two-time middleweight champ? Let us know in the comments section below.