On Saturday, in the main event of UFC 287 in Miami, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will look for another victory against his opponent Alex Pereira.
The problem for Adesanya is that he has gone 0-3 against Pereira in his last two. The most recent decision took place on Nov. 12 in New York when Perera, trailing three rounds to one on all three scorecards, defeated Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281 to win the middleweight title. Perera is 2-0 against Adesanya in kickboxing, winning the second of two bouts by third-round KO.
But after losing his UFC belt to Perera in devastating fashion, Adesanya insisted on a rematch, and got it. Some of his peers thought going straight to another fight with Perera was not the best decision. That school of thought says that Adesanya should have taken two fights to regain his confidence and develop the new strategies needed to defeat Perera.
However, that is not how Israel Adesanya works. He wanted a rematch and wanted it soon. UFC president Dana White often refers to fighters as “thugs” for taking tough fights. After Adesanya fell behind 0-3 and knocked out Perera in back-to-back fights, pushing for a quick rematch wasn’t gangster, then nothing was.
Adesanya is currently a -140 favorite at BetMGM and Pereira +115.
In Saturday’s main event, Jorge Masvidal will fight Gilbert Burns to not only keep alive his dream of facing welterweight champion Leon Edwards, but also avoid the first four-fight losing streak of his career. .
Burns is favored to win 5-1 at BetMGM. Masvidal is currently a +340 underdog.
Eighteen-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. opens the pay-per-view in a bantamweight bout against Christian Rodriguez, followed by a welterweight bout between Kevin Holland and Santiago Poncinifio. Rob Fond meets Adrian Yanez at 135 pounds.
Stay tuned to Yahoo Sports for all the news and results from the entire card.
UFC 287 Live Tracker
UFC 287 Main Card, Odds (Live Now on ESPN+ PPV)
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Middleweight: Alex Pereira (+115) vs. Israel Adesanya (-135)
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Welterweight: Gilbert Burns (-450) vs. Jorge Masvidal (+340)
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Bantamweight: Rob Font (+145) vs. Adrian Yanez (-175)
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Welterweight: Kevin Holland (-250) vs. Santiago Poncinifio (+200)
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Bantamweight: Christian Rodriguez def. Raul Rosas Jr. via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC 287 preliminary results, highlights
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Middleweight: Kelvin Castalum def. Chris Curtis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
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Strawweight: Luana Pinheiro def. Michelle Watterson-Gomez split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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Middleweight: Joe Pifer def. Gerald Mearshardt by TKO (punches) at 3:15 R1:
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Heavyweight: Carl Williams (-400) vs. Chase Sherman (+310) -
Strawweight: Loopy Godinez def. Cynthia Calvillo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
UFC 287 preliminary results, highlights
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Catchweight (160 lbs): Ignacio Bahamandes def. Trey Ogden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Featherweight: Steve Garcia def. KO of Shaylan Noortenbke (liver shots) at 0:36 of R2:
