UFC 281: Alex Pereira stuns fighting world, knocks out Israel Adesanya to clinch title

Brazilian UFC star Alex Pereira scripted a stunning victory over Israel Adesanya in the main event of the UFC 281 pay-per-view (PPV) event at the Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York. Adesanya was leading the middleweight championship bout by 3-1 over his former kick-boxing rival but was caught off-guard by Pereira’s strikes 2 minutes into the fight. Against all the odds, Pereira hung on till the final round of the main event before unleashing his power.

In the co-main event of the night, Zhang Weili defeated Carla Esparza via submission to become the new women’s strawweight champion. The main card also featured the thrilling lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. Having suffered a loss at the hands of Charles Oliveira in the lightweight championship fight in UFC 289 main event last year, Poirier made a sensational return in his first fight of 2022. 

On the other hand, Chandler came off a TKO win over Tony Ferguson in his last fight but picked the 7th loss of his career at UFC 281. Here's a look at what else happened at UFC 281 in MSG, New York.

UFC 281 Results, Adesanya vs Pereira: As it happened

Early prelims

• Carlos Ulberg def. Nicolae Negumereanu via knockout (punches) in Round 1, 3:44
• Montel Jackson def. Julio Arce via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-29)
• Michael Trizano def. Seungwoo Choi via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:51
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Silvana Gomez Juarez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Matt Frevola def. Ottman Azaitar via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:30

Prelims

• Andre Petroski def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Erin Blanchfield def. Molly McCann via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 3:37
• Ryan Spann def. Dominick Reyes via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:20
• Renato Moicano def. Brad Riddell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:20

Main card

• Dan Hooker def. Claudio Puelles via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 2, 4:06
• Chris Gutierrez def. Frankie Edgar via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 2:01
• Dustin Poirier def. Michael Chandler via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:00
• UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship (co-main event): Zhang Weili def. Carla Esparza via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:05 
• UFC Middleweight Championship (main event): Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya via TKO (punches) – Round 5, 2:01