Alex Pereira knocks out Israel Adesanya in UFC, after KO'ing him in kickboxing; WATCH

Alex Periera emerged victorious against Israel Adesanya for the third time in his professional fighting career at the UFC 281 PPV on Saturday night. Having defeated him twice in kickboxing, Pereira knocked Adesanya out two minutes into the final round of the main event at UFC 281. Adesanya was leading the middleweight championship round 3-1 after four rounds, but the Brazilian fighter remained calm before unleashing a series of jabs to knock out the champion.

With the win, Pereira became the new undisputed middleweight champion and maintained his unbeaten record in UFC to 6-0. On the other hand, this was Adesanya’s first loss in the middleweight division, which ended his long title reign. Adesanya’s only loss in UFC came when he stepped up to the light heavyweight division. Here’s a look at the viral video of Adesanya getting knocked out by Alex Periera at UFC 281 in the Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York.

UFC 281 Results, Adesanya vs Pereira: As it happened

Early prelims

Carlos Ulberg def. Nicolae Negumereanu via knockout (punches) in Round 1, 3:44

Montel Jackson def. Julio Arce via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-29)

Michael Trizano def. Seungwoo Choi via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:51

Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Silvana Gomez Juarez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Matt Frevola def. Ottman Azaitar via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:30

Prelims

Andre Petroski def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Erin Blanchfield def. Molly McCann via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 3:37

Ryan Spann def. Dominick Reyes via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:20

Renato Moicano def. Brad Riddell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:20

Main card

Dan Hooker def. Claudio Puelles via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 2, 4:06

Chris Gutierrez def. Frankie Edgar via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 2:01

Dustin Poirier def. Michael Chandler via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:00

UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship (co-main event): Zhang Weili def. Carla Esparza via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:05 

UFC Middleweight Championship (main event): Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya via TKO (punches) – Round 5, 2:01