Israel Adesanya earns respect of UFC A-listers with fairytale knockout win over Alex Pereira at UFC 287

Israel Adesanya took on Alex Pereira in a title rematch at the UFC 287 headliner in Miami on Saturday Night. Adesanya was looking to regain his title after losing it to 'Poatan' via a last-round upset loss at UFC 281 last November.

Additionally, 'The Last Stylebender' was looking to avenge two previous losses to Pereira from their GLORY Kickboxing days. The Brazilian even opined that it was unwise of Adesanya to have opted for an immediate rematch after losing to him for the third time. Meanwhile, Adesanya admitted, going into the fight, that it might be his last shot at regaining the middleweight title.

While both fighters started cautiously, Pereira found some initial success with leg kicks and likely edged out the first round. 'Poatan' came out as the aggresor in the second frame, backing Adesanya down against the cage with a big flurry early on.

While the Kiwi showed commendable composure in escaping unscathed, Pereira started backing him up again with leg kicks. The Brazilian appeared set to launch a lethal flurry when Adesanya threw an absolute bomb of an overhand right with his back against the cage.

'The Last Stylebender' followed it up with another flush right hand to send Pereira crashing to the canvas and follow-up shots were hardly necessary for the referee to step in at 4:21 of round 2. Israel Adesanya completed a fairytale, avenging three losses, to establish himself as one of the greatest mixed martial artists in history.

Catch the highlights below:

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Fighters react to UFC 287 main-event clash between Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira

The MMA community unanimously heaped praise on Israel Adesanya's glorious UFC 287 win over Alex Pereira. New England pro fighter Joe Giannetti likened the Kiwi to boxing legend Muhammad Ali:

"THE LAST STYLEBENDER with the Muhammed Ali comeback Vibes! #UFC287"

Belal Muhammad posted a clip of Adesanya mocking Alex Pereira's son, leveling scores for a similar incident dating back to his 2017 KO loss against 'Poatan'.

Elite UFC middleweight contenders Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori, who have both lost to Adesanya in the past, called for rematches while congratulating 'The Last Stylebender'.

Check out more reactions below: