In a sold-out and noisy Kaseya Center – where among others boxing icon Mike Tyson and former US president and indict Donald Trump sat in the stands – MMA star Israel Adesanya won the main fight at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida. There he decided the fight for the UFC middleweight belt by knockout.
Four minutes and 21 seconds into the second round, the referee broke the fight. Adesanya managed to defend himself when pressed against the octagon's bars, and responded with a powerful right swing that hit brass Alex Pereira so hard that he fell to the floor.
"That might be one of the best knockouts I've seen in my entire life," commentator Joe Rogan said.
First loss in eight years
Adesanya was able to both cheer the win in the rematch and that he can once again call himself the UFC middleweight champion. The first meeting, in November, was won by Pereira where he settled in the fifth round, taking the belt from Adesanya that he had held since April 2019.
New Zealander Adesanya, who was born in Nigeria, now has 24 wins and two losses during his professional MMA career. While this was Pereira's first loss since his debut in 2015, the Brazilian now has a 7–2 record in matches.