Alex Pereira is the new middleweight champion after he vanquished longtime rival Israel Adesanya with a stunning fifth-round knockout.
It was just Pereira's fourth fight in the UFC and just when it looked like Pereira was staring down a loss, he decided to come after Adesanya with everything knowing that Adesanya was well ahead of him in points.
Adesanya fell to the ground for a moment but managed to stagger back to his feet only for Pereira to continue knock out punches until referee Marc Goddard saw enough to rescue the Nigerian fighter before he took further damage.
“I feel so blessed,” Pereira said about his victory. “I worked so hard for this. Sorry to everybody that I had to post some stuff, I had to do a little bit of trash talk this time. But I had to get in his head to get this fight.”
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Kamaru Usman ❌
— Erimus Sports (@ErimusSports) November 13, 2022
Charles Oliveira ❌
Israel Adesanya ❌
The UFC landscape has changed in 2022 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/ElJQRSIPuc
Much respect to Israel Adesanya. #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/FguW4S8ZiF
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 13, 2022