UFC is back in the Sunshine State this weekend. The promotion returns to Miami for its first PPV event in two decades as UFC 287 takes over the Kaseya Center on Saturday night.
The card is anchored by a middleweight title rematch when Alex Pereira looks to turn away former long-reigning champion Israel Adesanya. The two met in November with Adesanya looking to maintain his spot atop the middleweight and pound-for-pound rankings.
But Pereira had other ideas for his former kickboxing rival. Despite appearing to be down heading into the final round of the fight, Pereira unleashed massive hooks that rocked Adesanya before the referee called off the action for the late TKO to crown a new champion.
Now, as has been the case with most long-reigning champions, Pereira will have to prove it a second time inside the Octagon to maintain his claim the middleweight gold. Already 3-0 against Adesanya, Pereira is ready to win number four against “The Last Stylebender.”
Pereira defends the UFC middleweight title against former champion Adesanya at UFC 287 on April 8 at the Miami-Dade Arena. Adesanya has revenge on his mind, but Pereira is ready to showcase his kryptonite-like status in this showdown.
Leaving kickboxing behind, Adesanya thrived in the UFC. Speaking with Sporting News Australia in 2020, he talked about how Pereira, still a kickboxer at the time, will be a nobody compared to him when all is said and done. Pereira took exception to that, which motivated him to join MMA and take him down again.
“When Israel Adesanya joined the UFC, I started taking a close look because I had the interest of fighting in MMA,” Pereira said during a UFC 287 Countdown video via Bloody Elbow.
“There is a video of an interview with Israel Adesanya that motivated me so much. I felt challenged. And whenever there’s a challenge, no one can hold me back. I wanted new challenges, and the UFC was it.”
In 2016, Adesanya and Pereira fought at GLORY of Heroes 1 in China. Adesanya out-struck Pereira, but Pereira landed combinations and shots that caused damage. Depending on how you saw it, Pereira slowed down toward the end, but Adesanya could not take advantage. Pereira would ultimately secure the unanimous decision win.
Adesanya believes the fight was his, as he explained to MMA reporters at UFC 276 media day. “Who’s actually seen the whole fight? Hands up… That’s one, two, three people, four, five. In a room full of how many?
Exactly, you’re journalists – do your f—— job,” Adesanya said via MMA News. “I f—– this guy up in the first fight. Not crazy, but the judges gave it to him.”
Pereira faced Adesanya at GLORY of Heroes 7 in 2017. In Pereira’s hometown in Brazil, Adesanya was the aggressor to open things up. The Nigerian had Pereira by the ropes in the second round, and it looked like he was ready to get revenge.
It wasn’t meant to be. In the third, Pereira delivered a devastating shot to the chin that dropped Adesanya. That was the first time in his career Adesanya was knocked out.
Adesanya joined the UFC in 2018 and beat Robert Whittaker in 2019 for the middleweight title.
Pereira joined the UFC in November 2021 and beat Sean Strickland in only his seventh MMA fight to fight for gold.
Israel Adesanya did Pereira’s arrow celebration after knocking him out #ufc287 pic.twitter.com/FiEenfMCDh
— BroBible (@BroBible) April 9, 2023
ISRAEL ADESANYA JUST SLEPT ALEX PEREIRA TO FINALLY BEAT HIM #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/lQwzlLW0LA
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) April 9, 2023