UFC 287: Adesanya Regains Title with KO

On April 8, 2023, Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira met in an immediate rematch at UFC 287. Adesanya, the former champion who had lost the belt to Pereira at UFC 281, secured a second-round knockout to reclaim the UFC Middleweight Championship [4][5]. Setup and context: The rematch followed Pereira's victory at UFC 281 on November 12, 2022 and was framed by media and fighters as a chance for Adesanya to avenge earlier defeats, both in kickboxing and in their first UFC meeting. Pre-fight narratives cited the pair's history (2016 decision and 2017 KO) and the November 2022 title change, positioning UFC 287 as a continuation of a multi-year rivalry that crossed combat sports disciplines [4][5]. The incident itself: Adesanya finished Pereira with a second-round knockout to regain the title. Coverage and fight chronologies list the outcome as a second-round KO for Adesanya, and subsequent media reports emphasized the title swapping that occurred across the 2022–23 period [4][5]. Immediate reactions: The knockout was widely reported as a clear, decisive answer in the rematch. Pereira used social media after the loss to reiterate competitive claims across their meetings (an Instagram reel from April 29, 2023 referenced a "3×1" ledger), and both fighters continued to reference past finishes and public remarks during promotional interviews and post-fight comments [6][5].

The April 8, 2023 knockout matters because it returned the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya and prevented Pereira from consolidating long-term championship control after UFC 281. The result kept the rivalry active and demonstrated that the competitive balance between the two fighters could shift in the Octagon as it had in earlier kickboxing meetings [4][5].

Following UFC 287, Adesanya held the middleweight title again and Pereira publicly maintained his assertions about their overall ledger via social media; an April 29, 2023 Instagram reel documented by sports sites showed Pereira referencing a "3×1" count in their meetings [6]. Media coverage continued to treat the rivalry as unresolved in terms of narrative bragging rights despite the alternating title outcomes, and both fighters remained high-profile figures in the division with potential for further interactions in interviews and promotional settings [4][6].