UFC returned to MSG after a long time with its star embedded PPV event. UFC 281 was headlined by the middleweight title contest between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya, and these two fought tooth and nails against each other.
Alex Pereira was very confident coming in this fight, but the former champ gave him a tough run for his money. Izzy's counter striking was on full display, and he almost got Pereira out at the end of the first round.
Adesanya was getting the best out of most exchanges early in the fight, and many thought he’d cruise away to another easy win but Pereira wasn’t ready to let the fight slip away. He kept the pressure high, and landed his signature left hook followed up by a barrage of punches that ended the night for Adesanya.
Everyone in the arena were up on their feet, and Pereira’s team jumped inside the octagon to celebrate the biggest win of his career. It was truly a moment to behold, and becoming the middleweight champ opened up a whole world of opportunity for him.
The most obvious path is a rematch against Adesanya. Even though Alex is 3-0 against Izzy, this was their first meeting inside the UFC octagon, and given their storyline the company would most certainly try to book this rematch.
Another path is kind of a long shot, but Pereira’s mentor, Glover Teixeira is booked to face Jiri Prochazka for the light-heavyweight title. If Jiri successfully retains his belt in that fight, Alex can move up and challenge Jiri for a monumental ‘champ vs champ’ contest.