[Breaking News] UFC281: Pereira knocks Adesanya out, dethroned him as middleweight king

Image: Daily Mail

Alex Pereira dethroned Nigerian Israel Adesanya with a knockout in the fifth round during the main event at the UFC 281. Alex Pereira is now the new UFC middleweight champion. Adesanya fought a near-perfect fight. He had Pereira out on his feet at the end of Round 1, but in Round 5, the Brazilian returned to snatch the title off Adesanya.

Adesanya enters the fight with revenge for losing two kickboxing fights to Pereira back in 2016 and 2017.

The 33-year-old Adesanya started the fight with cautiousness as he does; however, towards the end of the first round was able to stun Pereira.

Just before the end of the first round, Adesanya landed a huge shot that sent Pereira to the ground.

In the second round, Pereira dominated ‘The Last Stylebender’ and landed the takedown to level the judges’ scorecard.

In the fifth round, Pereira knocked the Nigerian out. Adesanya was likely up on the scorecards, three rounds to one when he slipped in the middle of the octagon. He tried to recover, but it was the beginning of the end. As Adesanya retreated to the fence, Pereira followed and peppered him with punches to the face, stunning him and nearly knocking him unconscious. Referee Marc Goddard ended the fight as Adesanya’s body went limp, though Adesanya protested the stoppage as he attempted to regain his composure.

Damn, Izzy got rocked. #UFC281 https://t.co/W2titocozb

— Playshis (@Playshis) November 13, 2022

Source: punchng.com

# UFC 281
# Alex Pereira
# Israel Adesanya