Adesanya brutally KO's Pereira to recapture title

Israel Adesanya finally tasted victory over the one man who has had his number, brutally knocking out rival Alex Pereira to recapture the middleweight championship Saturday night at UFC 287 in Miami.

Pereira had Adesanya in trouble against the cage toward the end of the second round, but Adesanya responded with a powerful overhand right that stunned Pereira, then followed up with another right to knock him out cold.

The stoppage came at 4 minutes, 21 seconds.

The bout was a rematch of their first mixed martial arts meeting at UFC 281 in November, when Pereira dethroned Adesanya with a stunning fifth-round stoppage. The two rivals also had two previous fights in kickboxing, with Pereira winning both.

Adesanya (24-2) has lost only once in 25 career middleweight fights; his other loss was in a light heavyweight title bout against Jan Blachowicz.

For Pereira (7-2), it's his first loss since his MMA debut in 2015, snapping a seven-fight winning streak.