Israel Adesanya won back his middleweight title in spectacular fashion and got his first win over Alex Pereira at UFC 287.
‘The Last Stylebender’ endured a tough first round as he ate several calf kicks but they didn’t matter as he closed the show with powerful strikes in round two.
Pereira got caught with a massive overhand as he pushed his long-time rival against the fence. Adesanya followed it up with another big strike that knocked the Brazillian out cold in Miami.
The Nigerian-born New Zealander landed a follow-up ground strike before referee Dan Mirgliotta intervened and he officially became a two-time UFC champion.
Adesanya entered UFC 287 with his back against the wall after suffering three defeats in his first three meetings with Pereira.
Just last year, he was knocked out in round five of a fight he was winning at UFC 281, which was the middleweight duos first meeting in MMA.
Before that, Pereira ended Adesanya’s 12-fight kickboxing win streak with a controversial unanimous decision victory that led to a rematch.
A year later, Pereira left no doubt when he landed a lead left hook to put Adesnaya out cold on the canvas and he later required oxygen as he struggled to instantly regain consciousness.
ADESANYA GETS ONE BACK! HE KNOCKS PEREIRA OUT COLD! 😱 #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/P01reBg6je
— UFC (@ufc) April 9, 2023
Adesanya said post-fight: “I told him before, ‘Thank you for all that you’ve done. Thank you for beating me because [by] beating me he made me a better fighter, a better person.’
“In this camp, I didn’t f*** around. If you know me, you know I like a vacation but I didn’t f*** around, I stayed on the grind.
“I’ve been putting myself through it, you can see it on FREESTYLEBENDER on YouTube. I don’t put my highlights on [Instagram], I put in work.
“I get tired so that when I get in here, I don’t get tired.”
