Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of UFC 287, headlined by the middleweight title bout between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.
Main card results
That’s one way to celebrate!
Adesanya to Joe Rogan after the win: Hey listen up i wanna say something to everyone watching me here and on TV, you should feel what I’m feeling atleast once in your lifetime. But you can’t do that if you don’t go for something. They say revenge is the sweetest and you know me, I got a sweet tooth.
Adesanya on Pereira: No matter what, Alex is a great champion. He lost the belt tonight but he’ll always be a champion. In his story I’m the antagonist. But tonight it is my story - history. I’d like to thank Alex here, thank you for beating me. By beating me, he made me a better fighter, a better person.
+ Second round gets underway. Adesanya moves back towards the cage but that proves detrimental as Pereira gets an opportunity to land a couple of jabs. Good left hand jab from Adesanya as he breaches Pereira’s defense. Adesanya counter’s Pereira’s leg kick with a powerful right hand jab and a body kick. ADESANYA KNOCKS PEREIRA OUT WITH TWO MASSIVE JABS AND RECLAIMS HIS LOST MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE!!!
+ Pereira tries the exact strategy that he used the last time when these two met as he starts off with leg kicks. Pereira continues with hsi kicks but Adesanya takes the offensive route, soaks in a kick and dishes out a jab and a body kick of his own this time. An equally poised first round comes to a close
Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya enters the octagon first, followed by a hero’s welcome for the reigning champion Alex Pereira.
The wait finally comes to an end as the middleweight championship bout between Pereira and Adesanya is about to begin in a while. Will Pereira defend his title or will Adesanya get even with his rival and claim the belt back? Let’s wait and watch!
GILBERT BURNS WINS THE TIE VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION!
+ Burns’ left arm jab makes Masvidal bleed. Burns tops it of with two powerful blows to his opponent’s face as Masvidal is pinned to a corner. Masvidal tires a jab but Burns evades to put on a body hold as Gamebred trips down. Burns tries his best to pant Masvidal’s face down but time runs out. Up to the judges now but the result might be inclined towards Burns
+ Burns continues where he left off. Slams Masvidal down and puts a body grab but Masvidal is quick to counter as he inflicts a hold and lands a couple of jabs as well. Masvidal tries a flying knee shot but pays the price as Burns capitalises and lands a powerful jab.
+ A rather silent first round. Both the fighters peaked right at the end as they exchanged jabs, Burns though might have had an edge over his opponent as he put on a grapple and pinned Masvidal down.
Coming up next, Gilbert Burns takes on Jorge Masvidal in a blockbuster welterwight bout
+ Yanez starts off strong with a right arm jab to Font’s face. Font gains the upper hand with his repeated jabs to Yanez, follows it up with a couple of upper cuts and FONT HAS DONE IT IN THE FIRST ROUND! Yanez is left with a bloody nose!
Next, Rob Font takes on Adrian Yanez in the bantamweight bout
+ Brilliant set of moves from Holland. Ponzinibbio attempts a leg kick, Holland grabs and counters with two back-to-back jabs to knock out Santiago! HOLLAND WINS THE TIE VIA KNOCKOUT!
+ Holland continues to use his jabs to maximum use. Both the fighters are taking things slow as the second round ends.
+ A few kicks and punches exchanged between the fighters but nothing substantial. Ponzinibbio loses ground as Holland dishes out a back hand jab to put in a last gasp grapple. Round 1 comes to an end
Up next, Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio in the welterweight division
It is almost time for the main card as both Pereira and Adesanya walk into the arena. First up, its Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez in the bantamweight bout.
+ Christian carries his second round momentum and asserts his dominance via a body triangle that lasted for a good while. With that comes the end of the round and the fight. The decision could go either way! CHRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ WINS VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION!
+ Huge second round for the underdog Christian as he dominates throughout with a chokehold coupled with constant punches to the face and torso. A third round decider on the cards?
+ An equally poised fight goes into the second round, Rosas pinned Christain down for a good 40-50 seconds at the end of first round and that could pull the result to the former’s favour.
Ever wondered how Alex Pereira, who is just four UFC fights old, is already a middleweight champion? Click here to know the answer
Not the kind of reaction one would expect after a massive first round finish!
Preliminary Card results
Key stats ahead of the title clash:
| Pereira | Adesanya | |
| Record | 7-1-0 | 23-2-0 |
| Form guide | W-W-W-W-W | L-W-W-W-L |
| Height | 193 cm | 193 cm |
| Reach | 200.7 | 203.2 |
| Rank | Defending champion | #1 |
UFC 287: Full fight card
TITLE FIGHT PREVIEW:
A fast rematch of one of the most stunning results in recent UFC history headlines UFC 287 in Miami on Sunday (IST).
The main event is a middleweight title fight between new champion Alex Pereira (7-1) of Brazil and former titleholder Israel Adesanya (23-2) of New Zealand.
The duo first met last November in the main event of UFC 281 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. There, Adesanya, who had made five successful defenses of his belt and had never lost an MMA fight at 185 pounds, seemed well on his way to a decision victory. In the fifth round, however, Pereira came on like gangbusters in a furious rally and earned the championship with a ferocious TKO.
The result only added fuel to the fire of the notion Pereira simply has Adesanya’s number. The duo squared off twice in kickboxing matchups, and Pereira won twice. One was via unanimous decision and the other, a knockout, marked the only stoppage loss in Adesanya’s 80 career kickboxing bouts.
The evening’s co-feature bout is a matchup of top welterweight contenders. Miami’s Jorge Masvidal will no doubt have the crowd on his side when he takes on Brazil’s Gilbert Burns. The veteran Masvidal (35-16) rocketed to stardom in 2019 with three straight KO/TKO wins. But he hasn’t won since, going 0-3 in this decade.
Burns (21-5), meanwhile, is a former title challenger respected as one of the toughest outs in the division. He has won two of his past three fights, and his only loss in that span was a unanimous decision to rising star Khamzat Chimaev in what was widely regarded as one of 2022’s best fights.
When and where to watch UFC 287 in India?
The matches will be telecast live SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels. The fights can also be streamed live on SonyLIV.
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