Israel Adesanya reclaimed his middleweight title by brutally knocking out Alex Pereira in their UFC 287 rematch.
Adesanya was looking to get a win against Pereira after losing his UFC middleweight title to the Brazilian in their fight last Novemeber. 'The Last Stylebender' was also beaten twice by Pereira in kickboxing, losing a controversial decision to his bitter rival in their 2016 meeting before being brutally knocked out by him in their rematch the following year.
It was a tentative start to the opening round of the rematch as both men traded leg kicks with neither two landing anything significant in the first two minutes. Adesanya landed the best strike of the first round by way of a body kick whilst Pereira was just slacking behind in terms of output. Pereira blocked a head kick from Adesanya at the start of the second round and replied with one of his own that briefly put 'Stylebender' on the backfoot.
