UFC 281 results: Pereira claims middleweight belt with fifth-round TKO of Israel Adesanya (2024)

Alex Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya via fifth-round TKO to claim the middleweight belt on Saturday at UFC 281 in New York City. Pereira, who also owns two kickboxing victories over Adesanya, improved to 7-1 in mixed martial arts.

Heading into the fifth round, Pereira was likely down three rounds to one on judges scorecards and needed a finish. He got just that after he landed a left hook that stunned the champion and followed with a hard combination of punches. Referee Marc Goddard, seeing Adesanya wobbled after multiple shots connected, stepped in to stop the bout 2:01 into the final round.

• Alex Pereira defeats Israel Adesanya via fifth round TKO for the UFC middleweight belt
• Zhang Weili defeats Carla Esparza via submission to retake the UFC strawweight belt
• Dustin Poirier defeats Michael Chandler via third-round submission.
• Frankie Edgar (+185) vs. Chris Gutiérrez (-225)
• Dan Hooker defeats Claudio Puelles via second-round TKO.
• Renato Moicano defeats Brad Riddell via first-round submisison
• Ryan Spann defeats Dominick Reyes via first-round KO
• Erin Blanchfield defeats Molly McCann via first-round submission
• Andre Petroski defeats Wellington Turman via unanimous decision
• Matt Frevola defeats Ottman Azaitar via first-round KO
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz defeats Silvana Gómez Juárez via unaimous decision
• Michael Trizano defeats Choi Seung-woo via first-round KO
• Montel Jackson defeats Julio Arce via unanimous decision
• Carlos Ulberg defeats Nicolae Negumereanu via first-round KO

(Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Leg kick by Izzy. Jab by Izzy followed by a right hook. Champ starting to open up a bit and seems very confident. Pereira seems very tired. Body shot by Izzy. Left jab lands for Adesanya. After a clinch, Izzy connects on a big right hook. Pereira seems to have almost taken this round off. He’s exhausted.

39-37 Izzy.

Izzy lands a right. Knee to the body for Pereira. Adesanya gets the takedown and has Pereira’s back. Ground-and-pound for the champ. Pereira is trying to get up but Izzy is all over him. Pereira’s ear is bleeding as Adesanya throws hard punches down. A scramble on the mat and Adesanya is in half guard for more ground-and-pound. Axe kick by Izzy!

29-28 Izzy.

Adesanya leg kick. Izzy goes high but it’s blocked. Pereira lands a jab. Now another one. Upper cut by Adesanya in the clinch. Izzy goes for the takedown but Pereira is just too big. Straight right by Izzy after they separate! Left hook by Pereira. Both fighters letting it fly up against the fence. Knee by Pereira lands and they go to the clinch. Head kick connects for Pereira! Pereira shoots and gets the takedown as the horn sounds.

19-19.

Pereira starts off with a flying kick but Adesanya steps aside. Both fighters trading leg kicks. Straight right lands for Adesanya. Pereira keeps attacking Adesanya’s lead leg. Body kick by Adesanya. Body kick by Pereira. Another one by Pereira and he lands a knee.

Both fighters clinch and Pereira starts landing punches to Izzy’s body. Izzy lands a huge right just at the buzzer! That may have won him the round.

10-9 Izzy.

Esparza lands a nice jab. Zhang goes for a head kick but it’s blocked. Zhang lands a nice combination and then a kick to the head. Fight goes to the ground with both fighters switching positions. Now Zhang has Esparza’s back! Another scramble and now Carla is on top! Both fighters get up and it’s back to a standup battle.

Carla catches a kick and takes it to the mat but Zhang reverses position into side control. Throwing some elbows.

Close, fun round. 10-9 Zhang.

Chandler gets a double legged takedown and now he’s in half guard on top. Blood is just pouring out of Chandler onto Poirier. Chandler going to a rear-naked choke attempt but he’s a bit too high and unable to secure it. Dominating in ground control time.

1-1 heading into the third. Great fight.

Jab lands for Chandler. Body kicks by Chandler. Nice right by Chandler. Another right by chandler and now he’s attacking the body! Dustin being patient and weathering the early storm. Right hook by Poirier. Big combination by Chandler and now he takes it to the mat!

Chandler slams Poirier to the mat. Poirier lands a big hook. Now Chandler! Both guys swinging! What a round.

This might not go the distance.

"I love this sport. I hate to go out like that but this sport is a bitch, you know? I have my family here. That's all that matters."

In a bit of a bizarre result, Dan Hooker was able to defeat Cladudio Puelles via second-round TKO. He landed a body shot that sent Puelles to the mat and the referee stepped in there to end it early. Puelles seemed totally fine -- constantly going for submission attempts -- until that one blow.

Hooker improved to 22-12 and rebounded after dropping his last two fights. Puelles had won his last five before this result.