The story was told 1,000 times before their fight. Alex Pereira beat Israel Adesanya twice before, but this was MMA and many wondered if Pereira could pull off one more win, arguably when it means the most.
At UFC 281, it was a different story.
The end of the first round was wild, Adesanya landed a hard shot to Pereira and then followed it up with a strike after the bell but he seemed to recover by the start of the second round.
This time the end of the second was all Pereira dumping the champion onto the canvas for a huge takedown.
Many felt that the third round would be the decider. But after a dominating round by Adesanya, the bell rang and they went into championship rounds.
In the fourth round they both slowed the action, Pereira looked gassed and defeated.
Pereira needed a finish in the fifth if he had any hopes of winning the fight and that’s exactly what he did in just the final moments.
Here’s how Twitter felt about the fight
This is a beautiful fight man, my word. 10-9 Pereira. 19-19 overall. And it would be 20-18 without Izzy’s punch in the final second of round one. But it also might have been Izzy by KO had that round been five seconds longer.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 13, 2022
Stop acting like Alex Periera is some dominant 2-0 against Isreal Adesanya.
Isreal should’ve won the decision the first time and was winning the rematch before he made an error and was KO’d.
Adesanya easily could be 2-0 instead of 0-2 against Pereira going into #UFC281
— Luca Fury (@FurysFightPicks) November 13, 2022
I am not emotionally prepared for this fight. Or physically for that matter. Have had a fight boner for about 6 hours. #UFC281
— MacMally (@MacMallyMMA) November 13, 2022
Israel Adesanya rocks Alex Pereira at the buzzer of Round 1. Wow! If there were five more seconds… #UFC281
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) November 13, 2022
Lol did Alex really just land a takedown when so many other people have failed against izzy? Lol what are we watching right now. This is great. 19-19 #UFC281
— Chris Curtis The Action Man (@Actionman513) November 13, 2022
I haven’t been this nervous/engaged watching a fight in a minute. Incredible theatre in MSG. #UFC281
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 13, 2022
Impressive growth from Izzy in his grappling. Great top pressure and g&p from the champ. Big round. #UFC281
— Andre Fili (@TouchyFili) November 13, 2022
Jesus Christ adesanya grappler lol
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) November 13, 2022
Anyone else getting sense Pereira is gassing at this point?
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) November 13, 2022
Is that Israel Adesanya or Khabib Nurmagomedov?
— Peter Carroll (@PetesyCarroll) November 13, 2022
Izzy needed this war to remind everyone how good he is
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) November 13, 2022
Man, the tension still high, but Adesanya looks great. Pereira going to need a finish in the fifth. #UFC281
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) November 13, 2022
What. Is. This. Sport. Adesanya and Usman… fifth round comeback losses in only a matter of months. #UFC281
— Drake Riggs (@DrakeRiggs_) November 13, 2022
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