Reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya faced longtime foe Alex Pereira in the headlining bout of UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
UFC 281: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira
Round 1
Pereira comes out with a flying kick. Adesanya goes for a low kick and another one. Pereira keeping his distance and staying in Izzy’s face. Adesanya eats a kick to the thigh. Another outside kick to the leg by Pereira. Nice leg kicks by Pereira. Lots of feints by Izzy. Both men chopping at each others’ legs. Nice straight right by Izzy lands. Izzy doing more feints to see Pereira reacting more now. Pereira stays in front. Good kick to the body by Adesanya. Pereira fires one to the body right back. Inside leg kick by Izzy. Good kick to the body from Pereira and barely grazes him with a left hook. Izzy clinches and Pereira finds some good shots in. They break free. Huge right from Adesanya rocks Pereira at the buzzer. Izzy lands a follow-up left hook after the buzzer and Pereira wobbles.
Round 2
Adesanya starts with a leg kick. Good left to the body by Pereira. Izzy lands a nice left hook. Both working with leg kicks and staying in front of each other. Pereira lands a nice jab. Another quick jab from Pereira. Pereira gets him close and they land close shots before getting in the clinch. Adesanya goes for a takedown but doesn’t get it. Izzy times a big right hand. Pereira gets a couple nice left hands through. Nice knee by Pereira. Izzy goes for the clinch. Izzy trying to trip Pereira down. Big head kick from Pereira connects. Pereira goes for a takedown and gets it to close the round.
Round 3
Izzy switches stance early and finds success with the jab. Pereira walks him down. Adesanya with an inside leg kick. Adesanya lands the right hand. Pereira with a nice knee to the body. Adesanya lands on top as they go down. Adesanya has Pereira’s back and takes him down for ground and pound. Izzy gets up on his back. Adesanya lands many short strikes from Pereira’s back. Adesanya gets one hook in from the back but Pereira almost gets up. Izzy gets him back down again. Mistake from Izzy lets Pereira out and Pereira misses out on a leglock. Izzy on top landing elbows. Pereira is down trying to survive the last 30 seconds. Izzy gets up while Pereira is down. Axe kick to the body from a standing Izzy.
Round 4
Adesanya gets a jab. Pereira with an outside leg kick. Pereira grazes Adesanya’s face with a left. Izzy with a jab and then a right hand clean. Adesanya lands a nice 3-punch combination. Adesanya with a kick to the body. Izzy lands a left and a jab. Izzy fakes level change and grapples with Pereira. Izzy still clinching Pereira off the fence. Pereira dunces back. Izzy goes for the clinch again. Nice knee to the body by Pereira. Izzy working his way to getting a takedown here.
Round 5
Izzy with a low kick and then to the body. Pereira gets in and has Izzy against the cage. Izzy grapples. They get closer in the middle of the ring. Pereira gets a straight right through. Izzy goes to grapple. Adesanya hits a leg kick and falls down after a trip and check from Pereira. Pereira with a low kick. Pereira with an uppercut, a huge, uppercut. Pereira teeing off on Izzy here. Izzy is hurt.
Official Result: Alex Pereira defeats Israel Adesanya via TKO (R5, 2:01).
Check out the highlights below:
THEY MEET AGAIN. NO GLOVE TOUCH 🔥 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/h2MV9WSwBl
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
PEREIRA GOT ROCKED 👊 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/AuI6WGcpHI
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 13, 2022
Five minutes to greatness 🏆 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/oh0ppu7Q2L
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
PEREIRA DOES THE UNTHINKABLE!! 😱
HE KOs ADESANYA AGAIN!! #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/YiNrtkrVFY
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
The Poatan Era is 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 👑 #AndNew
[ @AlexPereiraUFC | #UFC281 | B2YB @TulsaKing ] pic.twitter.com/jZja5krX2O
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
