Adesanya vs. Pereira Middleweight Title Rematch, Burns vs. Masvidal Set for UFC 287

The main event at UFC 287 is finally set. UFC President Dana White announced Friday that Alex Pereira will defend his middleweight title in a rematch against Israel Adesanya.

Gilbert Burns versus Jorge Masvidal will co-headline the April 8 event. While no location has been announced, Madison Square Garden is being considered, according to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.

At UFC 281 in November, Pereira defeated Adesanya via a fifth-round technical knockout in front of a packed house at New York's Madison Square Garden to claim the middleweight title.

Prior to that main event, Pereira and Adesanya had only met in the kickboxing ring, with Pereira coming out on top 2-0. At Glory of Heroes 7 in 2017, the Brazilian became the only man to knock out Adesanya.

Pereira told ESPN Brazil's Gustavo Faldon (h/t ESPN's Marc Raimondi) after the UFC bout that he fought Adesanya with torn ligaments in his right middle finger. If he's at full strength at UFC 287, he could extend his unbeaten record.

"I didn't train very well for this fight. I could have been better," he said. "But I won. I became champion. A lot of people talk nonsense and don't know what was going on. I [tore] the ligaments. I think I can come back better for this next fight."

Pereira is 7-1-0 in his MMA career. He also has recent wins over Sean Strickland, Bruno Silva and Andreas Michailidis.

Adesanya, meanwhile, is 23-2-0, with some of his victories coming over Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero and Marvin Vettori. His only other loss was against Jan Błachowicz at UFC 259 in March 2021.

As for Burns and Masvidal, the welterweights are finally getting the chance to square off after calling for a bout to be scheduled and getting into a lengthy exchange on social media.

Masvidal is 35-16-0, while Burns is 21-5-0.