Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White revealed two massive upcoming fights at UFC 287 during a “special announcement” on Friday night (watch HERE).
The biggest news to come from White’s impromptu video segment is a rematch between reigning UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira and former champion Israel Adesanya. Remember, the two met back at UFC 281 this past November which saw Pereira score a late TKO finish after a dominating performance by “Last Stylebender.” Of course, the two also share a storied history dating back to their professional kickboxing days.
Most fight fans expected the rematch to be booked, but it wasn’t an absolute. Pereira is the first fighter to ever defeat Adesanya at the middleweight level in MMA so it makes sense to run it back. The reboot with serve as UFC 287’s main event.
Adding to the pay-per-view (PPV) madness will be a co-main event clash between former UFC welterweight title challengers Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal. This is a massive meeting between two of the biggest players at 170 pounds and a contest that could push the winner into a title shot sometime in 2023.
ABSOLUTELY STACKED @DanaWhite announces the full lineup for #UFC287 in April and it’s HUGE! pic.twitter.com/0kPaRTCABA
— UFC (@ufc) January 27, 2023
Burns is coming off an easy submission win over Neil Magny at UFC 283 while Masvidal has lost his last three trips to the Octagon dating back to 2020. This is a very important fight for “Gamebred” to say the least.
White also confirmed the following matchups for UFC 287’s PPV main card on April 8:
Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez
Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
Stick with Mania for more UFC 287 fight card news.