Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira lll Set For UFC 281
Israel Adesanya confirmed to Sports Center that he will meet Alex Pereira for the 3rd time on November 12th at UFC 281, Madison Square Garden, New York.
These two have a long history with each other stemming all the way back to 2016. This was when their first fight would take place at Glory Kickboxing and Alex Pereira would win by unanimous decision.
They would meet again the next year in order to settle their grudge. The outcome of the match has haunted Adesanya to this day. Alex Pereira knocked him out cold with a left hook in the 3rd round, becoming the first and only man to finish Adesanya across all combat sports.
This was Stylebender's final kickboxing fight as he transitioned to MMA full-time soon after. He would go undefeated for 20 professional bouts, capturing the middleweight title along the way before tasting defeat once again at the hands of Jan Blachowicz. Adesanya lost a unanimous decision to the Polish fighter at UFC 259 but has gone a perfect 3-0 since.
His last fight was a unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276, a fight card that also featured his rival, Alex Pereira. Alex was booked against #4 ranked Middleweight Sean Strickland on the main card. He made short work of him, knocking him out with his signature left hook in the first round, the same left hook he finished Adesanya with.
If Alex Pereira wins here he will improve to 3-0 over Israel Adesanya across 2 different sports, and if Adesanya wins he will earn redemption 6 years in the making.
