Alex Pereira, a Brazilian mixed martial artist, has defeated Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion.
Pereira knocked out Adesanya in the final round to deliver a stunning upset.
- Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya retains title after beating Robert Whittaker
- UFC: Adesanya knocks out Costa in 2nd Round to retain title
The Nigerian-born New Zealander’s kickboxing career involved a few losses, with Brazilian Pereira having outpointed Adesanya in 2016 and knocked out the “Last Stylebender ” in 2017.
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 was unbeaten at middleweight in mixed martial arts, but Pereira was able to re-live their second kickboxing bout with a come-from-behind win.
The likes of Mike Tyson, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sylvester Stallone were in attendance for Adesanya’s sixth world title defense since dethroning Robert Whittaker in October 2019 and unifying the division.
Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman, another Nigerian lost their titles in the 5th round as they were about to win their fights.
Usman was among those at Madison Square to cheer up Adesanya.
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