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There’s a new threat in the UFC’s middleweight division.
Former Glory Kickboxing world champion Alex Pereira made his promotional debut during the UFC 268 preliminary card on Saturday, November 6, 2021. He took on Andreas Michailidis in the featured prelim bout and won the fight with a ruthless flying knee that dropped the Greek in the second round. He followed up with strikes and the fight was called off by the referee, granting “Po Atan” the victory via TKO.
He improved his professional MMA record to 4-1.
There was a lot of hype following the Brazilian into the Octagon as he is credited with two kickboxing victories over reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, one of them being a KO.
Watch Pereira’s stunning KO finish at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night via ESPN MMA:
FLYING KNEE KNOCKOUT FOR ALEX PEREIRA 😱
Stream #UFC268 next on @ESPNPlus ➡️ t.co/BEEAJLbQ87
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who has a volatile history with Adesanya, tweeted after Pereira’s victory: “Things just got real interesting at middleweight.”
Things just got real interesting at middleweight
Pereira isn’t ranked at 185 pounds, but don’t be surprised to see him get a push from the promotion due to his prior victories over “The Last Stylebender.”
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Adesanya & Pereira Kickboxed in 2016 & 2017
Pereira and Adesanya met in kickboxing twice. They competed for the first time in 2016 at Glory of Heroes and Po Atan defeated the future UFC champion by unanimous decision. They rematched a year later at Glory of Heroes 7 and Pereira knocked out The Last Stylebender with a left hook.
All in all, Pereira holds a professional kickboxing record of 33-7 with 21 KOs.
Adesanya made his UFC debut in 2018 and quickly worked his way up the ranks. He ultimately won the middleweight belt in 2019. He’s defended the belt three times. He also took a stab at trying to win the light heavyweight belt but fell short to Jan Blachowicz earlier this year.
The Last Stylebender has an MMA record of 20-1, with 15 wins by either KO or TKO.
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UFC 268 Fight Card Results
Here are the up-to-date full fight card results for UFC 268:
Main Card
Kamaru Usman def. Colby Covington via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 46-46)
Rose Namajunas def. Zhang Weili via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46)
Marlon Vera def. Frankie Edgar via third-round KO (front kick)
Shane Burgos def. Billy Quarantillo via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
Justin Gaethje def. Michael Chandler via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)
Preliminary Card
Alex Pereira def. Andreas Michailidis second-round TKO (flying knee and punches)
Bobby Green def. Al Iaquinta via first-round TKO (punches)
Chris Curtis def. Phil Hawes via first-round TKO (punches)
Nassourdine Imavov def. Edmen Shahbazyan via second-round TKO (elbows)
Early Preliminary Card
Ian Garry def. Jordan Williams via first-round KO (punches)
Chris Barnett def. Gian Villante via second-round TKO (spinning wheel kick and punches)
Dustin Jacoby def. John Allan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
Ode Osbourne def. CJ Vergara via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
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