Official – Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya II set to headline UFC 287 on April 8. in title rematch
An undisputed UFC middleweight championship rematch between defending division champion, Alex Pereira, and the #1 ranked contender, former titleholder, Israel Adesanya is set to take main event honors at UFC 287 on April 8. An official location or venue for the pay-per-view card has yet to be determined at the time of publication.
As per UFC president, Dana White, Sao Paulo striker, Pereira will headline UFC 287 on April 8. in an immediate championship rematch against Adesanya, with the duo reigniting their kickboxing rivalry in the Octagon last November.
Headlining UFC 281 back in November of last year at Madison Square Garden, former two-weight GLORY Kickboxing champion, Alex Pereira ended the undisputed middleweight reign of Adesanya, handing him his first loss at 185lbs pounds in mixed martial arts with a rallying fifth round standing TKO loss.
Alex Pereira will attempt to settle his rivalry with Israel Adesanya in April
The victory came as Pereira’s fourth under the UFC banner since debuting in the organization in November of the previous year. During his Octagon tenure, the Brazilian knockout artist has landed wins over Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, Sean Strickland, and most recently, Adesanya.
For City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya, the Nigerian-Kiwi will be afforded an opportunity to finally snap his losing run against arch-rival, Alex Pereira on April 8. – having dropped a pair of losses to the latter during their respective kickboxing runs.
Landing five successful title defenses over middleweight opposition before running into Brazilian force, Pereira, Adesanya had defeated Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Robert Whittaker, and Jared Cannonier during his time atop the undisputed middleweight throne.
In his sole other professional mixed martial arts loss, Eugene Bareman student, Adesanya suffered a unanimous decision loss to Polish veteran, Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 259 in March 2021 in an unsuccessful pursuit of light heavyweight gold.
