Adesanya, Pereira to meet in main event at UFC 281
The UFC announced Friday that Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight championship against Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12.
Adesanya called out Pereira following his successful title defense in the main event at UFC 276 last month. The competitors share a long history, with Pereira defeating Adesanya on two occasions under the GLORY Kickboxing banner.
The middleweight champion defeated Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision at UFC 276, while Pereira also earned a victory over Sean Strickland by knockout on the card.
Adesanya owns a 23-1 record, with his lone loss coming against Jan Błachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 259. Pereira is 3-0 since debuting in the UFC with a TKO win against Andreas Michailidis in November 2021.
A lightweight fight between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler is also reportedly close to being finalized for the Nov. 12 event.
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