Fresh off his come-from-behind technical knockout (TKO) win over Israel Adesanya at last weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 12, 2022) UFC 281 event in New York City, New York (highlights), Alex Pereira returned to his training grounds in Danbury, Conn., and was greeted by several friends, training partners, and family eager to show love to the newly-crowned champion.
Pereira’s impressive win over “The Last Stylebender” was his third win over the now-former UFC champion, defeating him twice before in the kickboxing arena. “Poatan” accomplished the feat of becoming UFC champion after just four UFC fights.
Pereira was down on the scorecards (see them here) going into the fifth and final round before he turned the tides and blasted his foe with a nasty hook that spelled the beginning of the end of Adesanya, who said after the fight he wished it would have gone a bit longer.
According to some MMA experts, though, Goddard made a wise, career-saving decision.
A rematch is all but certain at this point given the history between the two talented strikers, but only time will tell when it would go down, assuming Pereira or UFC matchmakers (or both) decide to go another route.
For complete UFC 281 results and coverage click here.