Alex Pereira stops Adesanya anew to clinch UFC middleweight title

Alex Pereira was the first and only fighter to score a knockout over Israel Adesanya when they fought in kickboxing, and a technical knockout was what he pulled off again at UFC 281 to snatch the UFC middleweight world title from the latter this Sunday (PH time) at the Madison Square Garden.

Adesanya and Pereira traded leg kicks in the early going with the former landing the first clean punch on top. Pereira, visually the much bigger fighter between the two, tried to impose his will against his foe but Adesanya made it hard to close the distance.

A hard right hand to the ear followed up with a left hook from Adesanya had Pereira hurt in the dying seconds of the opening stanza. Pereira then landed several hard jabs that caught the attention of Adesanya in round two before scoring a takedown.

Adesanya scored the first takedown of his career and then controlled the back of Pereira in round three. While on the mat, Adesanya delivered strikes while controlling his opponent's wrist.

Adesanya repeatedly landed kicks and his right hand in round 4. Pereira, on the other hand, lost steam after spending time on the ground in the previous stanza.

Pereira fought with urgency in the fifth and final round as his corner instructed him that he needed a knockout to win. After trapping Adesanya to the side of the cage, he unleashed a right straight on top followed up by his trademark left hook that had Adesanya all over the place.

Hurt and unable to defend himself, the referee stepped in to stop the contest at the 2:01 mark of round 5. The win was just Pereira's fourth appearance in the UFC, improving his record to 7-1 while Adesanya dropped to 23-2.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News