Alex PereiravsIsrael Adesanya

The series, in summary

Pereira and Adesanya are the only pair of UFC champions to have an established kickboxing record between them that predates their MMA careers. The full series:

1. Glory of Heroes 1 (April 2016) — Pereira def. Adesanya by unanimous decision (kickboxing, 5 rounds, 85 kg)
2. Glory of Heroes 7 (March 2017) — Pereira def. Adesanya by KO (kickboxing, 3 rounds, 85 kg) — left hook in round 3
3. UFC 281 (November 2022) — Pereira def. Adesanya by TKO in round 5 (MMA) — left hook on the cage with Adesanya defending a takedown
4. UFC 287 (April 2023) — Adesanya def. Pereira by KO in round 2 (MMA) — left hook counter as Pereira pressured forward

Career head-to-head: 3-1 Pereira (combining kickboxing and MMA); 1-1 in MMA only.

Origin: Brazilian kickboxing roots

Both fighters came up in the Brazilian kickboxing circuit before crossing into MMA, but their pedigrees diverged. Pereira was a São Paulo-based kickboxer from a working-class background who started kickboxing relatively late (age 19) and only became a full-time fighter in his late 20s. He fought at heavyweight kickboxing (95 kg+) for most of his Glory career.

Adesanya was born in Nigeria, raised in New Zealand, and trained at City Kickboxing under Eugene Bareman. He fought in the Asian kickboxing circuit (multiple Glory of Heroes appearances, K-1 Asia, ONE Championship) before joining the UFC in 2018. He fought primarily at light-heavyweight (95 kg) and at openweight in kickboxing.

The two crossed paths in 2016 and 2017 specifically at the 85 kg (~187 lb) level — well below Pereira's natural kickboxing weight.

The kickboxing wins

Glory of Heroes 1 (April 9, 2016). Pereira won a unanimous decision over five rounds. The scoring was relatively close — most scorecards had Pereira winning 3-2 by activity and forward pressure. Adesanya's account in subsequent interviews was that he treated the bout casually and underestimated Pereira's pressure.

Glory of Heroes 7 (March 4, 2017). Pereira won by KO in round 3. The finishing sequence was a Pereira left hook that landed clean as Adesanya was throwing his own left hook. The KO was uncontested and clean. The footage circulated widely after both fighters reached the UFC and became a defining clip in the rivalry.

In subsequent interviews, Adesanya repeatedly cited the Glory of Heroes 7 KO as a defining career moment — both as a motivation to improve and as the only kickboxer he had lost to via KO. The "Pereira specter" was a documented presence in his pre-UFC 281 training camp at City Kickboxing.

UFC 281: the first MMA meeting

Pereira entered UFC 281 (November 12, 2022) at 6-1 in MMA. His MMA career had been deliberately accelerated by the UFC to set up this fight — he had earned a title shot in his fourth UFC bout, after wins over Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, Sean Strickland, and the contender-level matchup that produced the title shot. The MMA-purist objection was that Pereira had not faced a top-10 wrestler.

The fight at UFC 281:

• Rounds 1-4: Adesanya was leading on the scorecards going into round 5. He was outlanding Pereira at distance, using leg kicks, and avoiding the cage. The volume was clearly Adesanya's; the power was clearly Pereira's.
• Round 5: Pereira closed the distance, pressed Adesanya to the cage, and landed a left hook to the temple as Adesanya was defending what looked like a takedown attempt. The follow-up strikes were a series of clean shots that forced the referee stoppage.
• Result: Pereira via TKO, 2:01 of round 5.

The fight was a textbook example of how kickboxing edge cases differ from MMA edge cases — Pereira's path to win was always to land one clean shot in 25 minutes of work, and the structure of MMA (takedown attempts, cage proximity, fatigue) gave him that opening.

UFC 287: the rematch and the answer

Adesanya entered UFC 287 (April 8, 2023) with an explicit gameplan revision. His City Kickboxing camp publicly stated they had identified that Pereira's pressure pace cost him head movement on the way in, and that an off-the-back-foot counter would land.

The fight at UFC 287:

• Round 1: clean kickboxing exchange, with Adesanya finding a rhythm at distance and Pereira pressing.
• Round 2: Pereira pressed forward, telegraphed a left hook, and Adesanya countered with a right hook over the top that landed on Pereira's jaw. Pereira dropped immediately. Follow-up strikes forced the stoppage.
• Result: Adesanya via KO, 4:21 of round 2.

The post-fight Adesanya celebration (a pantomime of going to sleep on the canvas while looking at Pereira's children in the front row) was widely criticized but reflected the depth of the rivalry's psychological weight.

What the MMA series proved

The 1-1 MMA scorecard is a stylistic Rorschach test:

The case that Pereira is the better fighter: 3-1 lifetime, two clean kickboxing wins, the UFC 281 finish came under championship pressure in round 5, both of his subsequent UFC wins (Jiří Procházka twice, Jamahal Hill, Khalil Rountree, Magomed Ankalaev) have been at light heavyweight where his kickboxing edge is preserved.

The case that Adesanya is the better fighter: at the same weight in the same rules with the same camp, Adesanya solved the problem and got a 1-round KO of revenge in their second MMA fight. Adesanya's broader MMA résumé is deeper (Whittaker twice, Romero, Gastelum, Costa, Vettori twice) than Pereira's at middleweight.

Where the rivalry stands

After UFC 287, Pereira moved up to light heavyweight, won the title from Jiří Procházka in November 2023, defended it against Jamahal Hill, Procházka (rematch), and Khalil Rountree, lost it to Magomed Ankalaev in March 2025, and regained it in October 2025. Adesanya remained at middleweight, lost his title to Sean Strickland in September 2023, lost again to Dricus du Plessis in August 2024, and has not been in title contention since.

A trilogy would require Adesanya to move up to light heavyweight or Pereira to drop back to middleweight. Neither move has been publicly discussed as a serious option. The rivalry's 1-1 MMA tally is likely permanent.

Conclusion

Pereira vs Adesanya is the cleanest stylistic puzzle in modern MMA: two fighters from the same combat-sports tradition, the same weight class, the same era, with a 4-fight series that ended 3-1 in raw count but 1-1 in MMA. The takeaway most analysts converge on is that Pereira's power is the ceiling and Adesanya's volume is the floor — and which one wins depends entirely on whether the fight gets long enough for the volume to matter or short enough for the power to matter. UFC 281 was long; UFC 287 was short. Both verdicts are correct in their respective sample.