Defending middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will fight Alex Pereira as the headliner of UFC 281 on Nov. 12 in New York.
The fight was announced Friday and will be held at Madison Square Garden.
Adesanya, a Nigerian-born New Zealander, and the Brazilian Pereira have fought before on the professional kickboxing circuit, but this will be their first meeting in the Octagon. Adesanya will defend his championship belt against Pereira, who beat him twice in their kickboxing days.
Adesanya (23-1) won the middleweight championship in 2019 and successfully defended it five times since then. His only career UFC loss came last year when he made his light heavyweight debut and lost to Jan Blachowicz of Poland.
Adesanya’s most recent bout was a win via unanimous decision over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 last month in Las Vegas.
Pereira (6-1) has won his last six matches. His most recent appearance also came at UFC 276 when he defeated Sean Strickland via knockout and won “Performance of the Night” honors.
–Field Level Media
Trevor Williams and four relievers combined on a six-hit shutout as the Washington Nationals beat the Texas Rangers 1-0 on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas. Williams (3-0) pitched five scoreless innings…
It’s been a rough season for three-time major winner Jordan Spieth. Spieth has just one top-10 finish in his past seven events, a stretch that has also featured a disqualification…
Rookie Shota Imanaga had another strong start and Pete Crow-Armstrong lofted a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth inning Tuesday night as the visiting Chicago Cubs beat the New York…
Jordan Spieth seeks fresh start at CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Rookie Shota Imanaga (5-0) silences Mets in 1-0 Cubs win
Kutter Crawford goes seven as Red Sox top Giants
Marlins extend Rockies’ run of futility with 4-1 win
Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM
