On Saturday, in the main event of UFC 287 in Miami, former middleweight champ Israel Adesanya gave another shot against Alex Pereira. He finally won against his greatest enemy.
Heading into the fray, Adesanya was 0-3 against Pereira, having been bowled out in their last two matches. The finale came on November 12 in New York when Pereira, trailing three rounds to one on all three scorecards, rallied to eliminate Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281 to win the middleweight title. Pereira was also 2-0 against Adesanya in kickboxing, winning the second match from two matches by third round KO.
But after losing his UFC belt to Pereira in devastating fashion, Adesanya insisted on a rematch, and he got it. Some of his peers thought it wasn’t the best decision to go straight into another fight with Pereira. That school of thought goes that Adesanya should have fought a couple of fights to regain his confidence and work on new strategies he needed to defeat Pereira.
However, this is not how Israel Adesanya works. He wanted a rematch and he wanted it as soon as possible. After defeating Pereira in the second round on Saturday, Adesanya’s urging has clearly paid off and he is once again the middleweight champ.
In Saturday’s co-main event, Jorge Masvidal fought Gilbert Burns needing a win to avoid the first four-game losing streak of his career, but Burns wasn’t supposed to as he passed his “Jimbraid” on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Rob Font delivered an upset in the first round with a brutal knockout of Adrian Yanez right before the featured fights of the night. Font hasn’t fought since losing to Marlon Vera in April 2022 and entered the fight as a +150 underdog.
Kevin Holland knocked out Santiago Ponzenepo to get back on the winning streak after two straight losses. Holland used his post-fight interview to call out Jorge Masvidal. Holland and Masvidal brawled in a verbal feud at the Fighting Hotel this week in Miami prior to Masvidal’s co-main title match versus Burns.
At the inaugural pay-per-view, prospect Raul Rosas Jr. lost his first professional mixed martial arts fight in a unanimous decision to Cristian Rodriguez.
Stay tuned with Yahoo Sports for all the news and results from the entire card.
UFC 287 Live Tracker
UFC 287 main card results, highlights
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Welterweight: defeated Gilbert Burns. Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Pant weight: Rob Font def. Adrian Yanez by TKO (punches) at 2:57 from R1:
UFC 287 prelims results, highlights
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Middleweight: defeated Kelvin Gastelum. Chris Curtis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
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Strawweight: Luana defeated Pinheiro. Michelle Watterson-Gomez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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Middleweight: Joe Perver defeated Gerald Meerschaert by TKO (punches) at 3:15 from R1:
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Heavyweight: Carl Williams (-400) vs. Chase Sherman (+310) -
Strawweight: Loopy Godinez def. Cynthia Calvillo by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Early UFC 287 results, highlights
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Catchweight (160 lbs.): Ignacio Bahamonds def. Trey Ogden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Featherweight: Steve Garcia def. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke by KO (liver shots) at 0:36 from R2:
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