Last night in Miami, all eyes were on the middleweight UFC 287 contest between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.
It was a rematch of their November 2022 fight at Madison Square Garden, where Pereira won by stopping the fight in the fifth round.
This time, Adesanya was seeking revenge over his rival.
During the first round, both fighters were evenly matched, attacking with leg kicks and jabs. But in the second round, Pereira started to ramp up the pressure and back Adesanya against the cage.
However, Adesanya was able to avoid the hits and fired back with two crushing right-hand punches that knocked Pereira out cold and sent him to the floor.
Israel Adesanya produced one of the coldest post-fight gestures
With this win, Adesanya was able to claim back the middleweight title he had lost to Pereira in their first match. His reaction after the KO was to gesture the firing of an arrow towards Pereira. Demonstrating his visual metaphor of “the hunter becomes the hunted”
Go Octagon-side for THE knockout of the night 🔥 #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/RSB0P6aiZq
— UFC (@ufc) April 9, 2023
In his post-fight interview, Adesanya credited Pereira for making him a better fighter and person, stating that “beating me made me a better fighter.”
When asked about his taunt towards Pereira’s son: “I’m petty, bro. I remember the first time [Pereira] knocked me out in Brazil, and his son came into the ring and then started to lie dead next to me.”
Wow izzy. Doesn’t forget he got his revenge on his son pic.twitter.com/mX23VsiQlZ
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) April 9, 2023
He went on to say: “But then, yeah, I looked for his kid, and I pointed at him, and I saw him, and I was like, hey, hey, hey, [motions as he fell] just to remind him.”
The commentators were in awe of what they had just witnessed, describing it as one of the greatest KOs they had ever seen.
This was Pereira’s first defeat in his five-fight UFC career, while Adesanya becomes a two-time middleweight champion.
Israel Adesanya, born in Nigeria but raised in New Zealand, lost his championship title to the Brazilian Pereira back in November of the previous year. He put in a dominant performance to reclaim the UFC middleweight title.