Alex Pereira delivered a come from behind knockout in the 5th round of UFC 281’s main event. Mandatory photo credit: The sportingnews/Getty images.
The UFC delivered once again with a spectacular night of fights from Madison Square Garden. Every fight on the main card was action-packed, with no fight reaching the judges’ scorecards. Both the middleweight and women’s strawweight titles changed hands in back-and-forth contests. Fans were also treated to a fight of the year contender between Dustin Porier and Michael Chandler.
Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya
The main event saw middleweight champion Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya defend his title against familiar opponent Alex Pereira. The first round of the fight was controlled by Adesanya, who was using effective movement and counter-striking to keep Pereira at distance. In the final ten seconds of round, one Adesanya wobbled Pereira with a beautiful combination. This had the challenger Pereira in significant trouble, although he was saved by the bell.
Before the round Pereira’s corner helped him regain focus and he recovered to convincingly win round two. Pereira was the clear aggressor in this round, as he chased down the circling Adesanya while throwing powerful combinations. After two rounds the fight was clearly tied at one round a piece.
Adesanya dug deep in round three, out pointing Pereira with straight punches as Pereira plotted forward. The volume and creativity of the champion was on display in this round, as Adesanya showed his full mixed martial arts skillset by taking down Pereira and controlling him against the fence. Round three was a dominant round for the champion and put him ahead on the judges’ scorecards.
The fourth round showcased both men’s impressive striking technique. Pereira was hesitant to be taken down again in the early stages of the round while Adesanya faked multiple takedown attempts to land hard shots on the inside. This was a close round that appeared to slightly favor the champion before Pereira landed a vicious combination in the final minute.
The late round combination gave Periera and his corner hope going into the final round. Pereira’s coach, former Light Heavyweight champion Glover Texiera, adamantly told his fighter “You have to knock him out in this round. You have to…” and “Five minutes and you’re a world champion Alex.”
Fifth Round and What’s Next?
Periera took the advice of his corner to heart in round five and pulled off an incredible come-from-behind victory. Damaging leg kicks from Periera took away the mobility of Adesanya as he stumbled to the ground. Periera quickly realized that the champion’s movement was compromised then stormed forward with a barrage of punches. The left hook of Pereira found Adesanya’s chin and wobbled the champion against the fence. From this position Pereira landed 10+ unanswered punches that put Adesanya out on his feet, forcing experienced referee Marc Godard to call a stop to the contest two minutes into the final round.
For Pereira, this was a historic moment that saw him capture the title in only his fourth fight in the UFC. Only Anderson Silva (2 fights) and Brock Lesnar (4 fights) have captured gold this quickly inside the promotion. Pereira will likely take time off and then fight Adesanya again in a rematch. This was the first loss for Adesanya at 185 pounds.
Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang
Also on this card was a women’s title fight between newly crowned champion Carla Esparza and former champion Weili Zhang. Esparza came into this contest a 3-1 underdog at most sports books, and it was for good reason. This seemed to be a terrible stylistic matchup for the champion. Zhang was the stronger and more skilled fighter in this matchup, easily stopping wrestling of Esparza in the first round. Although Zhang was stopping Esparza’s takedown attempts, the champion knew she needed to be on the ground to win this fight. The next round saw Esparza shoot for a takedown again but this time Zhang knew what was coming. Zhang defended the takedown getting into a scramble that saw her take the back of Esparza. From here the former champion Zhang regained her title submitting Esparza by Rear naked choke.
Dustin Porier vs Michael Chandler
One of the best fights I have ever seen took place on UFC 281’s main card as Dustin Porier and Michael Chandler easily won fight of the night bonuses. Tensions were high when both men stepped foot in the octagon, knowing how important the fight was for their careers. This fight was an absolute war from the opening bell, with Chandler coming out aggressively and backing Porier against the fence. As Porier was dodging punches, he was clipped with a looping right hand that looked like it could be the beginning of the end of the fight. Chandler swarmed the former interim champion but was countered with a damaging left straight.
Both men landed significant damage in round one. Porier imposed his will in the final minutes of round one taking back control of the fight. After that, Chandler realized that he needed to make an adjustment in the next round brilliantly taking Porier to the ground with a powerful Supplex. On the ground, Chandler controlled Porier landing damaging elbows and punches from the top position. This was the best situation possible for Chandler especially with his nose being badly broken.
At this point the fight was clearly scored at one round a piece. However, Chandler looked to be exhausted from the top pressure he applied in round two. In this round Chandler once again tried to slam Porier to the mat, but this time his strategy failed. Porier masterfully used Chandler’s momentum to scramble to his back, controlling the Division 1 wrestler on the ground. From a dominant position on Chandler’s back, Porier was able to lock in a Rear Naked Choke and submit Chandler in the final round.
Next UFC Event
UFC 281 was an incredible night of fights, the next PPV event for the promotion will be December 10th from Las Vegas.
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