Alex Pereira Proves to Be Israel Adesanya's Kryptonite Again at UFC 281
When Alex Pereira came into New York’s Madison Square Garden for the main event of UFC 281, he did so as a bit of a novelty. He was “that kickboxing guy who beat Israel Adesanya twice,” sent here to balance a competitive equation. But this was MMA, and Adesanya was the middleweight champion of the world.
When Pereira departed the Garden a few hours later, he did so as the UFC’s new middleweight champion.
Pereira’s gas tank held up under Adesanya’s clinch-control strategy, as the Brazilian came back in a bout he was losing on the scorecards to notch a TKO stoppage at 2:01 of the fifth and final round.
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“It was a hard fight, but I go through hard fights every day at the gym,” Pereira told UFC broadcaster and podcaster Joe Rogan through a translator in the cage after the fight. “For everybody who said I couldn’t do five rounds, look at what I just did right now. I’m ready for whoever’s next.”
It was rather surreal to watch UFC president Dana White slip the middleweight title around the waist of a man most viewers had probably never laid eyes on before Saturday. This was only Pereira’s fifth fight in pro MMA and fourth under the UFC banner.
We all knew why he was here: because he held two wins over Adesanya in the kickboxing world, where Pereira is a decorated champion. (He departed kickboxing in 2021 with a record of 33-7 with 21 knockouts.) Never mind that neither of his wins over Adesanya was particularly dominant. Never mind that for all his kickboxing dominance, as a 35-year-old specialist, his MMA prospects were fair-to-middling. Pereira was a fresh foil for Adesanya, the talented and charismatic champion who was running out of challengers in the thin 185-pound division.
The matchup was full of stylistic intrigue. Pereira is a relentless knockout seeker, Adesanya the learning-computer counter fighter. Pereira has precious little MMA experience and hasn’t shown a lot of success to date on the ground. Did Adesanya have the wrestling or the desire to take advantage?
Round 1 had some solid moments for both men, but the offense didn’t come until the literal last second. As the clock reached just one second, a big straight right from Adesanya landed just behind Pereira’s ear. Then, a left hook landed across Pereira’s jaw and wobbled the challenger just after the horn sounded. (It was deemed a legal blow because Adesanya began the strike motion before the horn.)
Round 2 saw both men score off their jabs. Man, Pereira hits hard, and he made a few left hands count down the stretch. Interestingly, Adesanya tried for two takedowns but couldn’t land either one. But then in the final seconds, Pereira likely sealed the round for himself by grabbing his own takedown—not the kind of technique you’d see in the Olympics, but it counted.
Round 3 saw Adesanya finally land his first career takedown. Although there were some nice shots from both men, the signature of this round was the champ’s control in the grappling phase, which together amounted to nearly 3:50 of control time, per UFC stats. It also contained the lowest striking output of the fight, in which just 20 significant strikes landed between them.
Round 4 saw Adesanya try to wear down Pereira with clinch time, but both men remained frisky in the championship rounds. Adesanya likely took the round on output, outlanding Pereira 20-15 and adding more than a minute of control time.
The final stanza saw Pereira come out with aggression. The fateful sequence began about halfway through the round. Having backed the champ against the fence, Pereira connected on a stinging jab and followed it with a brisk right hand. An uppercut followed, and Adesanya began to retreat. Pereira gave chase and walloped the champ with a left hook, then another uppercut, and after that Adesanya was on his skates in earnest. Another flurry and Adesanya tumbled to the ground, only to quickly pop back to his feet. The barrage continued, and although Adesanya kept his feet, it was clear he was in dire straits. Referee Marc Goddard stepped in to call the TKO. Adesanya protested, but by all appearances Goddard was well within his rights to stop it.
So what’s next? Is a rematch a fait accompli? It will probably happen at some point, especially in a shallow division like middleweight, but it doesn’t need to be right away. Let’s see what Pereira can do against someone like Robert Whittaker. Why not let this breathe a bit?
That said, if you have to bet on an outcome here, bet on the rematch. No need to risk taking away all the heat of this rivalry with a Pereira loss to Marvin Vettori. Early indications are the UFC may be receptive to a rematch.
As that sorts itself out, Adesanya remains one of the greatest middleweights to ever do it, but for now he’s living with a pretty big blemish on his record. Then again, every Superman has his kryptonite. Adesanya just learned his kryptonite can’t be so easily disposed of.
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