Alex Pereira’s dominance was broken, and Israel Adesanya recaptured the middleweight belt he had previously lost in just two rounds.
Following Alex Pereira’s horrific knockout by Israel Adesanya, Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik are all in disbelief.
Adesanya accomplished more than simply cast out his demons. He induced slumber in them.
Alex Pereira defeated Adesanya thrice, twice through knockout and again through kickboxing.
Israel Adesanya repaid the favour on Saturday night by permanently removing the albatross from his neck.
In the main event of UFC 287 at the Kaseya Center, Adesanya brutally struck Pereira numerous times in the second round before knocking him out. Adesanya reclaimed the UFC middleweight title with the brutal triumph. He is only the fourth fighter out of 15 to win their crowns back in an immediate rematch. He is the first middleweight champion of the UFC to win the title twice.
“I hope every one of you behind the screen, in this arena, can feel this level of happiness just one time in your life,” Adesanya said in his postfight interview. “I hope all of you can feel how f—ing happy I am right now. … But you never feel this level of happiness if you don’t go for something.”
Pereira was once more doing well. Saturday evening. He was throwing combinations while Adesanya was up against the cage. Afterward, Adesanya admitted that he was playing possum. He replied with a powerful right hand that injured Pereira, then he knocked him down with a right and a left hook.
With a hammerfist, Adesanya sealed the victory as referee Dan Miragliotta drew him away and called time on the contest. Pereira was not awake.
“That last one had everything,” Adesanya said. “That was since 2017. That last hammerfist was from the gods.”
With Pereira prone on the canvas, Adesanya stood over him and motioned like he was pulling back on a bow and arrow. It’s the same taunt Pereira uses, including during his entrance Saturday night.
“The hunter became the hunted,” Istael Adesanya said.
Pereira beat Adesanya via fifth-round TKO to win the title at UFC 281 last November at Madison Square Garden. Pereira also beat Adesanya twice in kickboxing, the most recent time by knockout in 2017. He’s the only man to ever knock Adesanya out.
“They said revenge is sweet,” Adesanya said. “If you know me, I got a sweet tooth.”
Adesanya and Pereira were ranked No. 5 and No. 10, respectively, on ESPN’s MMA pound-for-pound list at the time of the match.
Before falling to Pereira last year, middleweight Adesanya (24-2) had made five championship defences. Before then, the New Zealander of Nigerian descent had never lost at 185 pounds, and his lone previous MMA loss had come in a contest for the UFC light heavyweight championship against Jan Blachowicz in 2021. The second-most title fight victories in UFC middleweight history belong to 33-year-old Adesanya. (8).
“People were asking in interviews leading up to this fight, do you think [Adesanya is] messed up mentally and do you think [Pereira is] in his head?” UFC president Dana White said. “And I did not think that. … [Adesanya] is special. He’s different.”
Pereira (7-2) came in on a seven-fight winning streak, with his only previous loss coming in his MMA debut 2015. The Brazil native is a former Glory Kickboxing middleweight and light heavyweight champion. Pereira, 35, trains out of Connecticut with former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira.
“No matter what, Alex is a great champion,” Adesanya said. “He lost the belt tonight, but he will always be a champion. In his story, I’m the antagonist. In his story, I’m the bad guy. But tonight, it’s my story. History.”
White said he believes Pereira will move to light heavyweight after this bout because of how much weight he has to cut to make the 185-pound limit as a middleweight.
