UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya: Live results tracker [UPDATED]
The results for every UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 fight as they happen.
The rise of Alex Pereira up through the UFC middleweight ranks culminated with winning the UFC middleweight championship in New York's Madison Square Garden at UFC 281 in November.
That also meant he continued to be the boogeyman in the combat sports career of Israel Adesanya. But Adesanya will get one more chance at redemption as the two battle again for the UFC middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 287 in Miami.
Adesanya was in control of their first MMA fight five months ago, up 3-1 rounds on the scorecards of the judges and many of the MMA media. But Pereira rocked him and finished him in the fifth round to earn the comeback finish and title.
Prior to meeting in the Octagon, Pereira and Adesanya faced off twice in kickboxing. Their first meeting in 2016 ended with a decision win over Pereira. Their second fight in 2017 saw Adesanya knocked out so bad that he had to be stretchered out of the ring.
Pereira, the former GLORY Kickboxing middleweight and light heavyweight champion, competed in three fights in Jungle Fight between 2015 and 2016 before committing to MMA full-time in late 2021.
After a first-round knockout in the LFA in 2020, Pereira's UFC run prior to winning the middleweight gold saw him earn a second-round finish of Andreas Michailidis, beat Bruno Silva by decision and get a first-round knockout of Sean Strickland. His surging title run in 2022 helped earn Pereira several Fighter of the Year honors.
Adesanya, who earned Fighter of the Year honors himself in 2019, originally claimed the interim middleweight title with his highly-praised UFC 236 win over Kelvin Gastelum before unifying the title with a knockout of Robert Whittaker. Adesanya successfully defended the title against Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Whittaker and Jared Cannonier.
Jan Blachowicz was the first to defeat Adesanya in MMA when "The Last Stylebender" went after light heavyweight gold, and then Pereira became the first to finish Adesanya.
The co-main event will be a featured welterweight championship between former title challengers Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal. Burns has won two of three since his unsuccessful challenge of then-champion Kamaru Usman (most recently submitting Neil Magny at UFC 283), and he's hoping a win here can land him an upcoming title shot. This will be Masvidal's first fight since his loss to Colby Covington at UFC 272. And for the hometown hero, this could be his last chance at making a push for a title shot.
Masvidal teased in the UFC Countdown for this card that he may retire if he doesn't snap his losing skid tonight.
[UPDATED] UFC 287 results
UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
- Israel Adesanya defeated Alex Pereira via KO (punches) - Round 2, 4:21 - for the UFC middleweight championship
- Gilbert Burns defeated Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Rob Font defeated Adrian Yanez via TKO, Round 1 - 2:57
- Kevin Holland defeated Santiago Ponzinibbio via KO, Round 3 - 3:16
- Christian Rodriguez defeated Raul Rosas Jr. via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
- Kelvin Gastelum defeated Chris Curtis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Luana Pinheiro defeated Michelle Waterson-Gomez via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
- Joe Pyfer defeated Gerald Meerschaert via TKO, Round 1 - 3:15
- Lupita Godinez defeated Cynthia Calvillo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 Early Prelim Card (ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)
- Ignacio Bahamondes defeated Trey Ogden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Steve Garcia defeated Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via KO, Round 2 - 0:36
- Sam Hughes defeated Jaqueline Amorim via unanimous decision (29-28 X3)