NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Pereira has Israel Adesanya’s number in any combat sport — make it 3-0, and now the Brazilian knockout artist also has his rival’s UFC middleweight championship.
Pereira fought back out from a slow start and rocked Adesanya in the fifth round to score the TKO win and claim the 185-pound championship in the main event of UFC 281 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The 35-year-old Pereira defeated Adesanya twice — once by knockout — in their old kickboxing days and the wins got the challenger fast-tracked to a title match after just three UFC fights.
