Pereira upsets Adesanya with 5th-round TKO, wins UFC middleweight title at Madison Square Garden
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 that got the challenger fast-tracked to a title match after just three UFC fights.
His rapid rise to the title had the Garden crowd going wild as Pereira tagged Adesanya with a vicious right that sent the champion into the cage. Adesanya, the Nigeria-born, New Zealand-raised fighter slumped against the cage and Pereira went for the finishing blows but the referee stopped the bout at 2:01 in the fifth.
Knocked at times for his methodical style, the 31-year-old Adesanya (23-2) got the MSG crowd on his side once he clobbered Pereira with a pounding right and then a fast left hand to the face that ended the first round and sent the challenger reeling.
Trying to shake off the beating, Pereira stood and beckoned fans to get louder as he waited for the bell to signal the second.
He raised his arms again to the crowd, only in victory.
Adesanya's loss snapped his 12-fight win streak at middleweight, only one shy of Anderson Silva's division record.
Go Octagon-side for THAT finish from <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexPereiraUFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlexPereiraUFC</a>!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC281?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC281</a> <a href="https://t.co/H8m0K0VYex">pic.twitter.com/H8m0K0VYex</a>
Zhang Weili won the 115-belt for a
