Israel Adesanya knocks out Alex Pereira to become 2-time Middleweight champion

New Zealand professional mixed martial artist of Nigerian descent Israel Mobolaji Adesanya has reclaimed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title.

Adesanya defeated Brazilian professional mixed martial artist Alexsandro Pereira in the UFC 287 main event that took place in the early hours of Sunday, April 9, 2023.

In their first encounter, which took place at a kickboxing competition in Shenzhen back in 2016, Adesanya was defeated by Pereira by unanimous decision. 

In their second match, which took place at a kickboxing competition in Sao Paulo in 2017, Pereira produced a knockout.

Pereira at Madison Square Garden in New York last November defeated Adesanya to claim the UFC Middleweight title.

The Last style bender suffered some leg kicks to Pereira in the first round and was unable to land flush.

In the second round, Adesanya and Pereira began to exchange leg kicks and power shots to the body.

Pereira caught Adesanya's leg and forced him to the corner just as he did to end their last fight back in November 2022.

Adesanya learned from his last mistake as he covered up his head well and was able to connect with a straight right.

The counter punch caught Pereira clean on his jaw and on the way down Adesanya added a left hook for good measure to end the fight via knock out.

Adesanya was finally able to get revenge against Pereira in their fourth outing and reclaim the UFC Middleweight title.