UFC 281: Alex Pereira dethrones middleweight champion Adesanya in final round stunner
"Poatan" once again got the better of his former kickboxing foe on an epic night in New York City
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| Image: Zuffa LLC |
"Poatan" once again got the better of "The Last Stylebender" coming from behind on the scorecards to unleash a huge left hook to stun the champion, following up with a barrage of strikes that prompted the referee to mercifully stop the contest.
The Brazilian captured the world middleweight championship in the process in only his eighth professional bout.
The main event marked the second of two title changes on the night, as China's Weili Zhang submitted Carla Esparza for strawweight supremacy in the co-main event.
On what was a wild card from start to finish featuring the most first-round knockouts in UFC history, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler walked away with fight of the night honours following a brutal three-round war in which the former interim champion choked out Chandler.
"Steamrolla" stops the hype train in early prelims
City Kickboxing's Carlos Ulberg wasted no time in getting things started with a thunderous first-round stoppage of Nicolae Negumereanu. The Kiwi light heavyweight frustrated his opponent early by circling around the cage and banking several calf kicks that compromised the Romanian's movement, softening him up for a jab and left hook as he rushed in to finish the fight.
Following a closely contested and somewhat tepid first two rounds, Montel Jackson secured the victory with a knockdown from a jab on Julio Arce in their bantamweight showdown. He fended off a hail-mary submission while going for the ground-and-pound, closing out the fight in dominant top control.
Fireworks were on tap when Michael Trizano and Seungwoo Choi locked horns. Both men hit the canvas in a spectacular double knockdown in the first minute of the fight and followed suit with fierce exchanges for the remainder of a wild first round. Choi buzzed Trizano with a left hook and waded forward with reckless abandon before walking into a massive left hook and getting stopped in the final seconds.
Six years after falling short against Joanna Jędrzejczyk in a strawweight title fight in the same venue, Karolina Kowalkiewicz continued her resurgence with a decision over Silvana Gomez Juarez, marred mostly by a strange changing of the judges scorecards before the official decision. Nonetheless, the consensus was that the right woman won.
Matt Frevola closed out the early prelims portion of the card and in the process brought an end to the undefeated professional run Ottman Azaitar with a stunning first-round knockout. Frevola brought the heat in front of a hometown crowd pressurizing the hard-hitting German-Moroccan, who eventually lunged forward and missed with a right hand in the clinch, leaving himself open to a thunderous left hook in which Frevola followed up with a few shots on the ground to seal the deal.
Superman Spann punches Reyes into oblivion as Moicano breaks out in prelims
Andre Petroski's wrestling credentials ruled superior as he controlled Wellington Turman for three rounds. Petroski's striking allowed him to soften up the Brazilian in the first stanza before going on to dominate with the grappling for the remainder of the contest.
Erin Blanchfield brought the Molly McCann fairytale to a screeching halt with a dominant performance to throw her name into contention. It was all one-way traffic as soon as the New Yorker secured a takedown, trapping McCann in a crucifix and raining down elbows and punches. The Liverpudlian held her nerve while absorbing the shots and even survives a brutal-looking kimura attempt, but on the second go Blanchfield would force a tap.
Ryan Spann announced himself as a light heavyweight contender with a devastating knockout of one-time title challenger Dominick Reyes. Reyes unloaded with a steady diet of body kicks but soon found them being timed by his compatriot who was landing with power and dropped Reyes early. Then, barely a minute into the fight, he timed Reyes with a jab coming in and clipped him with a right hand on the temple on his way down to put Reyes out cold. The 205-pound division definitely has a name to look out for.
The final prelim of the night followed suit with another spectacular finish, produced by Renato Moicano in perhaps the best performance of his career. He kept the highly-skilled striker Brad Riddell at bay, piecing him up with the jab and long range strikes, before taking his back and carrying out what seemed like a formality with his skillset by way of a rear-naked choke. What then followed was one of the most memorable - and highest curse word count - post-fight interview in history.
Peruvian Prince becomes the pauper
Dan Hooker finally got his name back in the win column in a fashion far easier than expected in the main card opener. He saw off a strange performance from the "Prince of Peru" in his return to featherweight.
"Hangman" kept his strikes at long range with some kicks to keep Puelles occupied, before the inevitable first of many leg attacks came from Puelles. An imanari roll saw him take full control of Hooker's leg and for a large chunk of the first round he was in hot pursuit of a kneebar, coming extremely close at one point. However, Hooker was able to stay composed and get back to his feet where he snapped the head back of his opponent with a stiff right hand at the end of the round.
Puelles descended into desperation in a bizarre second round showing, repeatedly going for leg attacks, each becoming more telegraphed and evoking more of a negative response from the New York crowd. The beginning of the end came via a teep kick to the midsection by Hooker which clearly hurt Puelles, with another one coming moments later that forced him to fold and the referee stepped in to no complaint from the fallen Peruvian.
A happy send off for Edgar? "The Answer" is no
It was meant to be Frankie Edgar's swansong, but instead it served as the coming out party for the bantamweight division's latest threat, Chris Gutierrez.
By way of a vicious knee just over two minutes into the contest, he flatlined the former lightweight champion in brutal fashion, walking him on to the shot after pedalling backwards and feinting. It brought to an end the legendary, hall-of-fame career of "The Answer" Edgar.
"I love this sport. I didn't want to go out like that. This sport's a b***h," an emotional Edgar explained after the defeat. It was a sad way to end a storied 36-fight UFC run spanning three weight classes, but as Gutierrez may also learn in the future, that is just how this sport goes. When one door closes, another opens.
The Diamond holds firm in three rounds of hell
All bets were on Poirier and Chandler to steal the show at Madison Square Garden and that is exactly what they did. It was "The Diamond" Dustin Poirier who rose through the ashes in three chaotic rounds, ultimately submitting the former Bellator champion in the final stanza.
Chandler applied pressure right off the bat while Poirier circled and landed a good left hand early. It was evident that Chandler was keen to impose his wrestling prowess on his opponent, shooting for a takedown early which was stuffed before exploding forward with a series of hooks that troubled Poirier as he covered up against the cage wall. Poirier was buzzed when some shots found their way through and after a brief stint on the ground there was another onslaught coming the Louisianan's way. Then in the final seconds of the round he would drop Chandler with a massive right hook and his opponent would barely hang on as the bell sounded.
Adjustments were needed quickly as Chandler reeled from the damage and after absorbing a hard left hand that damaged his nose proceeded to land a huge takedown, spending the second round in full control on the mat. He landed some stinging ground-and-pound shots and came close with a rear-naked choke attempt to swing the fight back in his favour.
As momentum went to-and-fro Poirier then came back at Chandler in the third round managing to scramble his way out of a high-crotch takedown as he was being slammed through the air. The Diamond was able to take the back of "Iron Mike" and ultimately synch in a choke that forced a tap with mere minutes to spare.
With the lightweight landscape continuing to radically change Poirier may just have thrown his name back into the melting pot.
Weili powers her way back to strawweight summit
The exclusive club of two-time UFC champions welcomed its newest member in China's Zhang Weilli who tore through Carla Esparza to reclaim the strawweight title.
"Magnum" Weili forced the action from the start, varying her kicks and throwing jabs, but was also brushed by a few strikes coming her way from the champion. Esparza would bide her time before grabbing a leg and attempting to drive for the takedown, however the challenger excellently scrambled to take her back and come extremely close with a rear-naked choke. Following some frantic scrambles Esparza was able to get back on top but not for long as Weili popped up and landed some kicks to close out the first round.
The scrambling abilities and physicality of the challenger would pay dividends early in the second stanza as she sprawled a takedown and trapped Esparza in a crucifix position, capitalising on a choke with one arm trapped. The champion had no option but to tap out and surrender her title, and with that the reign of Magnum was once again upon the strawweight division.
Different sport, same result: Pereira stops Adesanya in final round
Alex Pereira stunned the MMA world with a dramatic final round stoppage over long-reigning champion Adesanya in a thrilling main event.
Eager to finally get at the champion, the Brazilian leaped forward with a jumping kick at the first bell. Both men were feinting heavy and trying to take the centre of the cage, with the champion landing some early low kicks and jabs while slipping out of range from most of his opponent's strikes. Towards the midpoint of the round Pereira began to apply more pressure and close the distance with a good right hand before Izzy came back with some hard kicks to the body. After a brief clinch exchange Adesanya threw a 1-2 that had the challenger in a world of trouble, following it up with a left hook that almost put him out - fortunately for the South American the buzzer would sound.
Pereira recovered in a remarkable second round to keep the fight hanging precariously in the balance. He continued to pressure Adesanya up against the cage wall and landed several thumping jabs that clearly bothered the champion. Pereira was also upping the leg kick volume and ate another 1-2 that came his way much better. The New Zealander tried to slow things down by clinching but would eat a head kick on the break and then to punctuate a stellar five minutes Pereira secured a takedown of his own.
Momentum would then swing back in favour of the champion who truly found his flow, landing the first attempted takedown in his UFC career in the third round. Pereira was coming forward early in the round allowing Izzy to seize the opportunity up close with a bodylock takedown. He would spend the remainder of that round on the back of Pereira, landing ground-and-pound and restricting the Brazilian's airways. Heading into the championship rounds it appeared that the fuel reserves for the challenger were running on empty.
With the takedown threat established Adesanya was able to go back to his striking and inflict further damage on his nemesis. Mixing low kicks with jabs and several 1-2s, the champon was picking off Pereira but to the challenger's credit he continued to march forward. Adesanya neutralised the threat further with some more clinching before Pereira came back with a hard right hand that didn't seem to phase the champion too much.
With Adesanya appearing to be 3 rounds up to 1, the onus was on Pereira to finish the fight in the fifth round to salvage his hopes. And to the shock of the entire sporting world, he did just that. He came forward relentlessly and forced Izzy to backpedal and clinch but the Brazilian could not be denied. The beginning of the end came when a low kick from the champon was checked and he rolled backwards and was swarmed by his opponent. He covered up against the fence and tried to clinch as he was cracked by two hard right hands in succession, but "Poatan" simply refused to let up. He then stepped forward with a hard left hook that left Izzy badly hurt, following up with hard hooks against the fence as Izzy staggered on to his knees. He managed to stumble back to his feet, albeit dazed and a sitting duck as the onslaught continued. Referee Mark Goddard called off the fight two minutes and one second into the final round to save the champion from any further damage.
The champion initially protested the stoppage but in hindsight accepted the decision as Pereira paraded around the cage with the belt and the biggest win of his combat sports career. All roads would suggest that these two may run it back for a fourth time but for now, the era of "Poatan" has commenced.
Just when you think you've seen everything, this incredible sport tears up the rulebook. What a night in NYC. Top 10 all-time card. #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/owxxZdUcdD
— Nisar (@nis4r) November 13, 2022
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