The stars aligned at UFC 276 for a highly anticipated third combat sports meeting between rivals Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
Since Pereira fully committed to the mixed martial arts path, the buzz around a potential meeting with UFC middleweight champion Adesanya in MMA steadily grew.
Ahead of UFC 276, promotion president Dana White said that would be the next title fight if both men won, which they did. Adesanya cruised to a unanimous decision over Jared Cannonier shortly after Pereira quickly knocked out Sean Strickland in Round 1.
Saturday, they’ll meet for Adesanya’s 185-pound title in the UFC 281 main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
While fans likely are familiar with their MMA careers, Adesanya encouraged fans and reporters to watch his fights against Pereira. The first meeting took place in April 2016, during which Adesanya lost a unanimous decision to Pereira – a decision Adesanya disputes.
The rematch took place in March 2017 and the full highlights of the fight can be seen in the video above. As Adesanya outlined during his UFC 276 pre-fight news conference, he had Pereira hurt prior to a table-turning left hook knockout by his Brazilian opponent.
Check out the Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira 2 fight highlights in the video above from the Glory of Heroes kickboxing promotion. Or you can check out both fights in full below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
