Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira: Height, weight, reach and UFC records comparison

Middleweight king Israel Adesanya is set to take on his former kickboxing foe Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight, which takes place on November 12, will see 'The Last Stylebender' defend his title for the sixth time against 'Poatan'.

The Brazilian faced the Nigerian-born Kiwi twice in kickboxing and won both times, becoming the only man to have knocked out 'The Last Stylebender' in his entire combat sports career.

Now in the UFC, Pereira went from an unranked fighter to the No.4-ranked contender on the middleweight roster after knocking out Sean Strickland in the first round at UFC 276.

Israel Adesanya stands at 6'4" (193 cm) and has a reach of 80 inches. He last weighed in at 183.5 pounds for his fight against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. 'The Last Stylebender' fought all five rounds to a decision victory over 'The Killa Gorilla'.

Israel Adesanya's only MMA loss came at light heavyweight when he faced Jan Błachowicz at UFC 259. He is undefeated at middleweight with a UFC record of 12-1 and an overall MMA slate of 23-1.

Alex Pereira, meanwhile, stands identical to 'The Last Stylebender' at 6'4" (193 cm), but concedes one inch to his opponent at 79 inches. 'Poatan' last weighed in at 184 pounds for his fight against Sean Strickland at UFC 276.

Pereira's only loss came in his first professional fight against Quemuel Ottoni at Jungle Fight 82, where he lost via submission due to a rear-naked choke in the third round.

Since that loss, he has built a six-fight win streak, with a 3-0 UFC record and an overall MMA ledger of 6-1.

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Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira: A grudge match for the ages

There couldn't be a better story for the fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. Both fighters are kickboxing phenoms with illustrious records and are knockout artists. But more intriguingly, they have faced each other in the past.

In their first meeting, 'Poatan' edged out a decision victory over 'The Last Stylebender' in what was a close and competitive back-and-forth kickboxing bout. In their second meeting, the bout was going Adesanya's way until the Brazilian knocked him out with a left hook in the third round.

With that, Alex Pereira is the only man to have finished Adesanya in his entire career, which is what makes their UFC 281 bout that much more interesting.

Going into the bout, Israel Adesanya has more experience inside the octagon. He also has more experience fighting championship rounds, having fought seven to a five-round decision seven times. Adesanya has had more title fights than Pereira in his entire MMA career.

Israel Adesanya is the -166 favorite against the +140 underdog Pereira.