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Two of the best UFC middleweight kickboxers clashed for the strap at UFC 281 when Israel Adesanya put his belt on the line against Alex Pereira at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 12.
And after five rounds, Pereira did what he had done two times before: he earned a win over “The Last Stylebender.” With Adesanya seemingly ahead on the scorecards, “Poatan” looked for the finish and he got it: earning a fifth-round TKO.
UFC 281 marked Pereira’s crowning as the new middleweight king and he improved his professional mixed martial arts record to 7-1. And for Adesanya, he suffered his first loss as a 185-pound UFC fighter, and his record fell two 23-2.
At this point, it’s unclear if the promotion will grant The Last Stylebender an immediate rematch over the Brazilian. However, UFC president Dana White didn’t shy away from the idea of it during the UFC 281 post-fight press conference.
Jon Jones, Khamzat Chimaev, Francis Ngannou & Others React to Pereira’s Win
Here are some reactions to the UFC 281 headliner:
Surging UFC star Khamzat Chimaev called for an instant-title fight against Pereira, tweeting: “Let me fight with this guy, 1 road finish him.”
“Easy money,” Chimaev continued.
“Ready to fight in Brazil @AlexPereiraUFC let’s go champ,” Chimaev finished.
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou tweeted: “What a sad night.”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion and Adesanya’s longtime rival Jon Jones tweeted: “It’s already yours Champ, Congratulations! Incredibly happy for you and your team.”
“Holy s*** that was freaking wild!!” Ex-ONE and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren tweeted. “Pereira got some serious power.”
“Don’t book Pereira against a high level grappler, that may be an issue for him after watching round 3,” Askren continued.
“I’m up for immediate rematch, that was fun!” Askren finished.
UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad suggested that the middleweight best — who have lost to Adesanya — may be rejoicing over Poatan’s win. “Well (Marvin) Vettori, (Derek) Brunson, and (Robert) Whittaker just got new motivation,” Muhammad tweeted.
“Man had him almost finished in the first and he got finished in the last .. Alex may be his kryptonite,” Muhammad continued.
Reactions Continued to Filter in Through Twitter
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto tweeted: “Alex Pereira claims it in the fifth. Unbelievable. I could watch those two fight 10 more times.”
TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter tweeted: “Wow. Just wow! Poatan has crazy power at all times.”
“A rematch has to be next. We need to see that again,” he continued. “An incredible fight!
Top-ranked UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns shared several mind-blown emojis, tweeting: “Wow.”
“Israel Adesanya had fought more than 100 fights across combat sports coming into #UFC281,” MMA Fighting’s Shaheen Al-Shatti tweeted. “Through it all, Alex Pereira was the only man to knock him out. The more things change, the more they still the same. Incredible.”
“Seriously what a story,” he continued. “Alex is the one who sent Izzy out of kickboxing. He transitioned fully to MMA after that KO, became a star, a bonafide all-timer, the second-most decorated MW in UFC history. All for it to end in the same damn way. Forever chased by his boogeyman. Unreal.”
“Preposterous power,” ex-UFC slugger Mike Perry tweeted.
UFC welterweight star Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson tweeted: “OOOHHH MYYY GOOODNESSS!!!!!!”
“Man just like their KB fight too… Izzy winning and then bam,” he continued. “This sport is wild!”
“Man I was hyped for that fight but the rematch gonna be,” Wonderboy finished.
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