Alex Pereira was greeted warmly by Danbury after a fifth round knockout of Israel Adesanya in UFC 281. He will now be the UFC middleweight champion.
The Brazilian striker was greeted by the masses as he returned to Teixeira MMA and Fitness, the gym run by his head coach and former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira.
The riotous reception had Pereira smiling as Teixeira re-introduced him to the team except this time as the new middleweight champion with a UFC title on his shoulder.
In only his fourth fight in the UFC, Pereira shocked the world when he put together a nasty combination of punches midway through the final round that had Adesanya hurt multiple times.
As Pereira continued his attack, Adesanya offered little resistance as he just kept eating shots, which forced referee Marc Goddard to step in and stop the fight before further punishment was dished out.
Pereira celebrated the win, which was actually his third victory over Adesanya after they met twice previously in GLORY kickboxing with the Brazilian earning a decision victory in their first encounter and then scoring a vicious knockout in the rematch.
Despite being down in the scorecards going into the fifth round Pereira managed to win. He’ll now be the 12th champion at middleweight UFC and third Brazilian to have the title after Murilo Bustamante (and Anderson Silva).
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/15/23460801/video-alex-pereira-receives-heros-welcome-in-return-home-after-championship-win-at-ufc-281?rand=96749
