JUST IN: Alex Pereira KOs Israel Adesanya to win middleweight title at UFC 281

Alex Pereira pulled off an unbelievable upset at UFC 281 by knocking out Israel Adesanya in the final round.

As reported by The Mirror, the Brazilian was behind going into the fifth session, but managed to drop Adesanya and impose his fearsome striking power to stop his old kickboxing rival.

Adesanya had never lost at middleweight or been stopped in his career, but Pereira was able to re-live their second kickboxing bout with a come-from-behind win.

The stars were out in force at Madison Square Garden to witness an historic battle between the duo with the likes of Mike Tyson, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sylvester Stallone in attendance for Adesanya’s sixth world title defence since dethroning Robert Whittaker in October 2019 and unifying the division.

Pereira was the aggressor at the start of the contest, flying out of the traps to throw a big head kick that missed the champion. They both focused more on leg kicks after the quick start, with Adesanya finding some success with his jab as well as moving up with his kicks.

But it was ultimately something of a chess match in the opening stanza on a night otherwise filled with finishes. Just three of the 13 undercard bouts went to the judges, with the entire main card ending in stoppages including a barn-burner between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler.

That was until the final second of the round when Adesanya landed a beautiful combination that saw Pereira wobbled before being directed to his corner. A right hand caused the damage which was compounded by a left hook, but the Brazilian was able to continue into the second.

Adesanya narrowly dodged some big shots in the second round, but appeared comfortable sitting against the cage and allowing Pereira to come to him. At that point, both men were opening up more with their movement, with the champion looking solid in the clinch before shooting for a rare takedown that had fans excited.

In the third, Adesanya began to get his punches together more fluidly, but he was once again brought to the ground by a Pereira trip before taking control and taking the Brazilian’s back. The round played out almost entirely on the ground, something nobody could have anticipated going into a fight between two such high level strikers, with Adesanya controlling the action.