Pereira vs Adesanya II

Who won Pereira vs Adesanya II?

Israel Adesanya beat Alex Pereira by knockout in the 2nd round during the main event of UFC 287, on Saturday 8th April 2023 at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

This contest was for the UFC Middleweight championship.

Pereira vs Adesanya II stats

Alex Pereira stepped into the octagon with a record of 7 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Israel Adesanya made his way to the cage with a record of 23 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by knock out.

This was Alex Pereira's 10th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2021. Israel Adesanya marked his 17th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2018.

Alex Pereira's UFC record stood at 9-1-0, while Israel Adesanya's came in at 13-4-0.

The stats suggested Pereira had a large advantage in power over Adesanya, boasting a 86% knock out percentage over Adesanya's 65%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested that Pereira and Adesanya would have been pretty equal, both with a 0% submission rate.

Alex Pereira was the older man by 2 years, at 37 years old.

Pereira was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 17 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2015, 3 years and 7 months later than Adesanya, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 48 less professional rounds, 32 to Adesanya's 80.

Pereira vs Adesanya II form

Pereira had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 4 opponents and going to the judges once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 on 12th November 2022 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Sean Strickland at UFC 276 on 2nd July 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Bruno Silva at UFC Fight Night on 12th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he was victorious against Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268 on 6th November 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

He had won against Thomas Powell at LFA 95 on 20th November 2020 by knockout in the 1st round at Hartman Arena, Park City.

Israel Adesanya had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 on 12th November 2022 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on 2nd July 2022 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 on 12th February 2022 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Toyota Center, Houston.

Before that, he was victorious against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 on 12th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

He had been beaten by Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 on 6th March 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Light Heavyweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Israel Adesanya had been fighting more than Alex Pereira.

Going to this contest, Alex Pereira had last fought 2 years, 1 month and 2 days ago, while Israel Adesanya's last outing had been 2 years, 1 month and 2 days ago.

Pereira's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years and 24 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 24 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

Adesanya's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 9 months and 8 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 2 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 25 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 5 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Pereira vs Adesanya II?

Alex Pereira was a 26/25 (+100) underdog going into the contest, while Israel Adesanya made his way into the ring at 8/11 (-140) with oddsmakers.