Across three fights and two sports, Alex Pereira continued to get the best of Israel Adesanya
And now, he’s got UFC gold go to along with the win.
The Brazilian former kickboxing champion completed a rapid rise to the top of the middleweight division at Madison Square Garden early Sunday morning, defeating Adesanya (23-2, 15 finishes) via fifth-round TKO at 2:01 of the frame to claim the title a year after making his UFC debut.
“I feel so good. I’ve been training all my life for this,” Pereira said via an interpreter.
Pereira previously had defeated Adesanya in the kickboxing realm, once via close decision and the other by third-round KO. However, Adesanya had been a dominant UFC champion for three years and entered Saturday as the betting favorite.
Previous 1 of 4 Next Alex Pereira punches Israel Adesanya. Alex Pereira knocks down Israel Adesanya during the fifth round. Alex Pereira celebrates after winning the middleweight title. The referee stops the bout in the fifth round.
The opening frame played out as, perhaps, the most high-level kickboxing round in MMA history — anticipated, given their previous careers in that sport. Pereira (7-1, six finishes) kept Adesanya on the outside of the cage, near the fence, but both found success. However, Adesanya put a stamp on the round by stinging his rival in the closing seconds.
Pereira pressured Adesanya early in round two, giving the defending champion no room to work. But after some clinch work, Adesanya secured space to work. Again, both found moments, but it was Pereira who punctuated a round that may already have leaned his way with something that couldn’t have happened the first two times they met — a successful double-leg takedown.
Adesanya turned the tables in the third, winning a scramble to wind up on the back of Pereira, who was forced to defend from his knees. Adesanya piled up punches from the advantageous position, and even scored a mat return on Pereira as he nearly got back to his feet. On top in guard, Adesanya again landed the better offense in the first clear round in his column.
The fourth round saw a return to form from the first frame, with extended time striking at distance. Three minutes in, Adesanya made Pereira wear his weight in the clinch before Pereira freed himself and stalked back, leading Adesanya to the fence on the opposite end of the octagon. Both found success, with Pereira landing the heavier kicks.
With the fight seemingly still up for grabs in the final round, Pereira again took charge as Adesanya pursued clinch offense. An Adesanya slip sent him tumbling back, but Pereira failed to capitalize. That is, until he rocked Adesanya with a short right hook and pounced, punishing Adesanya as the former champ was kept standing by the fence. Referee Marc Goddard gave Adesanya a long leash, but he wasn’t able to recover.
A year ago, Zhang Weili’s bid to reclaim the strawweight title at the Garden came up short on the scorecards.
She didn’t let her second chance go to waste – or the judges – this time in the same building, securing a rear-naked choke submission victory at 1:05 of the second round over Carla Esparza in the co-main event.
Zhang (23-3, 19 finishes) took control against the grappler Esparza (19-7, eight finishes) in the first round with her powerful striking arsenal. Even when the fight hit the mat, it was Zhang who frequently found herself in more advantageous positions, including a crucifix on Esparza’s back briefly.
Zhang Weili celebrates her defeat of Carla Esparza. USA TODAY Sports
Round two didn’t require much time for Zhang to take the erstwhile champ’s back and sink in the fight-ending choke to complete her journey back to the top of the division.
“Every day I dream my belt come back,” China’s Zhang said in English, before utilizing her interpreter to add more. ”… Ever since she lost the belt, every single day and every night, she dreamt of this moment.”
Zhang, China’s first UFC champion, had lost her crown to Rose Namajunas via quick first-round KO last April, then dropped a tight split decision in the immediate rematch at the Garden in November.
But Esparza knocked off Namajunas this past May, opening the door for Zhang to challenge again after a convincing knockout of ex-champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June.
Against Namajunas, Zhang received little support from the American crowd. Not the case this time against Esparza, a native Californian who has not garnered much support from fans, even in her own country. Clear boos rained down upon her famously stoic-faced introduction.
Just before the championship fights, Dustin Poirier (29-7, 22 finishes) and Michael Chandler (23-8, 18 finishes) lived up to the billing of their pivotal lightweight battle, which was universally expected to thrill. After a wild first round and a clear Chandler second, Poirier secured a third-round submission via rear-naked choke with three minutes to go.
That came on the heels of the final fight of Frankie Edgar’s (24-11, 11 finishes) illustrious career, which ended as so many long combat sports careers do – a brutal knockout – as Chris Gutierrez’s (19-3-1, 11 finishes) knee starched the Tom River, N.J., native at 2:01 of round one.
To open the pay-per-view main card, Dan Hooker (22-12, 18 finishes) pleased the crowd who’d grown impatient with opponent Claudio Puelles’ (12-3, nine finishes) tactics by earning a TKO via body kick at 4:06 of the second round.
Alex Pereira stuns Israel Adesanya with late TKO to win title
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