Israel Adesanya exacted some revenge on Alex Pereira with a brutal second-round knockout victory in Saturday's UFC 287 main event in Miami.
Adesanya floored the Brazilian at 4:21 in the second round in their middleweight fight, having come into the contest 0-3 against Pereira in their previous kickboxing and MMA bouts. Among those losses was a fifth-round TKO at UFC 281.
Pereira started well with Adesanya up against the cage, but the Nigerian responded emphatically, countering with some massive right-hand hits.
The Brazilian was hurt but finally put down by Adesanya with a left hook, before pummelling him with a hammer fist leading to referee Dan Miragliotta's intervention with Pereira unconscious.
"They say revenge is sweet," Adesanya said. "If you know me I've got a sweet tooth... you already know, this is f***ing sweet."
Adesanya, who said he was "playing possum" with Pereira early, was delighted to re-claim the middleweight belt.
"Alex is a great champion no matter what," Adesanya said. "He lost the belt tonight, but he’ll always be the champion. In his story I’m the antagonist, in his story I’m the bad guy but tonight it’s my story. History.
"I told you the hunter is now the hunted. Thank you for beating me. Beating me made me a better fighter, a better person. In this camp I didn’t f*** around. I stayed in the grind and put myself through it."
In the co-main event, Gilbert Burns beat Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in the welterweight division.
Burns, who trains in Florida, was the clear winner, with Masvidal declaring after the bout that he would retire.
Conor McGregor to make his long-awaited return to UFC on June 29
Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to UFC on June 29 after nearly three years out.
Dana White confirmed that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion will fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.
McGregor – who has 22 wins and six UFC defeats – has not competed in the UFC since July 2021 when he sustained a horrific leg break against Dustin Poirier, who he had previously fought and lost to six months earlier.
Speaking about the fight, White said on Saturday that McGregor’s return had been “all about timing”.
“There’s all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes and it’s all about timing. Chandler’s been ready but Conor hasn’t been ready,” White said.
“We talked about this in one of the press conferences recently, he had a lot of obligations that he had to deal with.
“What you don’t want him doing is accepting a fight when he’s got a ton of obligations and he can’t train 100 per cent for a fight, so here we are tonight.”
Vogel slams Suns after 'unacceptable' loss to Spurs
Frank Vogel hit out at the Phoenix Suns for an "unacceptable" defeat to the San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio were shorn of star player Victor Wembenyama on Monday, yet ran out 104-102 winners over the Suns.
Phoenix have now lost three of their four meetings against the Spurs this season, despite San Antonio having been rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference.
And Vogel did not hold back in criticising his team.
"It's just unacceptable to lose that game," Suns coach Vogel said.
"For our guys, we all said the right things. We all did the right preparation. But we didn't play with the necessary focus in this position throughout, I would say, the first half."
Bradley Beal added: "It's disappointment.
"We came in here and laid an egg. We thought it was going to be easy with no Wemby. Just got our a** kicked.
"They came out aggressive, just like the coach told us they would, and we didn't respond. Well, we did, but we didn't withstand their punches."
Devin Booker says the Suns knew what to expect of the Spurs, but just did not deliver.
"I'm not into disrespecting our opponents," Booker said.
"These guys are NBA guys. There are some talented young players over there. We weren't unprepared. We knew what to expect."
Jeremy Sochan and Devin Vassell both finished with 26 points for the Spurs.
"I was confident," Sochan said.
"Even at the start, I was asking for the ball, I had my hands up. I felt like a couple of the last games the ball hasn't going in for me from the 3-point line. But no matter what, I believe in myself."
The Suns sit eighth in the West, but are about to embark on what ESPN class as the toughest end to the season in the NBA, but Vogel dismissed those concerns.
"We like our chances against anybody. We don't worry about the schedule," he said.
Dana White awards first ‘Bite of the Night’ bonus in UFC history after Vegas 89
UFC Vegas 89 was overshadowed after Igor Severino bit Andre Lima on the arm during their flyweight contest.
Severino was disqualified for biting in the second round of their preliminary card bout at UFC Apex in Nevada between the previously-undefeated fighters.
UFC president Dana White later claimed Severino would be released from UFC for the bite and doubled the bonus money of mixed martial artist Lima.
The disqualification of Severino by referee Chris Tognoni ensured Lima won the contest and claimed the first ‘Bite of the Night’ bonus in UFC history after scenes reminiscent of Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield’s ear at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in 1997.
Lima, who let out a yell after the incident, uploaded pictures of the bite and got a tattoo around the teeth marks on his bicep with the phrase, “I got f****** bit bonus”, hours after his victory.
UFC president White said on his Instagram story: “I was going to give him 25k. Now I’m giving him 50k. This is awesome.”
While Lima wrote on Instagram: “It was so insane I had to make it permanent. A debut to remember. Thanks boss Dana White! Ready for many more.”
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