At UFC 281, which takes place inside Madison Square Garden
on Saturday, Israel Adesanya will face off against a familiar
foe in Alex Pereira in an attempt to make
his sixth defence of the middleweight title.
Although Pereira (6-1) has participated in more than three times
as many MMA fights as Adesanya (23-1), the UFC rushed
this meeting owing to their shared history. In professional kickboxing,
Pereira has defeated Adesanya twice, most recently by brutal knockout in 2017.