UFC 281 isn’t just any old title fight, because what Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira share isn’t just any old rivalry. This one goes back. Way back.
MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti and E. Casey Leydon tell the story behind the unique rivalry between the UFC middleweight champion and his next title challenger, which can be watched above.
Footage courtesy of Glory Kickboxing and Alex Pereira.
UFC 281 takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Adesanya seeks to defend his UFC middleweight title for the sixth time in his trilogy bout with Pereira in the night’s main event. A former two-division champion in Glory Kickboxing, Pereira infamously defeated Adesanya twice as a kickboxer, including a third-round knockout in 2017 that still stands today as the only knockout loss of Adesanya’s combat sports career.
Pereira is 3-0 in the UFC and earned his title shot with a first-round knockout of Sean Strickland this past July.
