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History repeated itself at the UFC 281 as Alex Pereira beat Israel Adesanya to become the new UFC middleweight champion.
The fight kicked off with Israel Adesanya in control of the fight in the first round. Moreover, ‘Izzy’ had Pereira hurt badly just as the first round got over. However, the Brazilian was able to comeback strongly in the second round and seemingly made it 1-1 going into the third round.
Israel Adesanya took complete control in the third and fourth round of the fight and even showcased his rather underrated wrestling skills. Alex Pereira was going into the fifth round of the fight behind on the scorecards and had to pull of something special to get the win and he did exactly that.
Alex Pereira came out guns blazing in the final round and eventually caught Israel Adesanya with his trademark left hand. As it does with everybody else, the vicious left hand hurt Adesanya the referee stepped in to bring a close to the UFC middleweight championship bout.
It is worth noting that Alex Pereira has gotten the better of Israel Adesanya on three occasions now. However, much like their rematch in kickboxing, ‘Izzy’ was beating Pereira until he got knocked out. Adesanya was rather dominant in the fight and as mentioned earlier, he was seemingly up 3-1 going into the fifth round.
That said, an immediate rematch for Israel Adesanya makes complete sense at the moment. The two have given fans incredible three fights and they certainly won’t a fourth scrap between the two. It will be interesting to see if and when the UFC comes in on board to make an immediate rematch.
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