Israel Adesanya regains middleweight title at UFC 287

Israel Adesanya is middleweight champion once again.

Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira at 4:21 of the second round at Saturday’s UFC 287 event with a punch that knocked out Pereira cold, forcing the referee to stop the fight. This is his second reign with the championship, as he lost the title to Pereira back at UFC 281. Pereira held the championship for 147 days, losing in his first defense.

After the fight, Adesanya said he hopes everyone feels this level of happiness just one time in their lives. He said you’ll never see this level of happiness if you don’t go for something. If you stay down, you’ll never get that resolve. He additionally said that revenge is sweet, and he has a sweet tooth. Alex was a great champion and he is the antagonist in Pereira’s story, but tonight it is about his story.

Adesanya had lost for only the second time in his career when he first fought Pereira at UFC 281, losing at 2:01 in the fifth round by TKO.