Knockdown Daily 8/6/22: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira Set For UFC 281
An upcoming middleweight title fight leads the MMA headlines for Saturday
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. We have a lot of big stories to cover in today’s issue, so let’s begin:
News
Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya To Face Rival Alex Pereira At UFC 281
UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya has the chance to avenge a kickboxing loss under MMA rules later this year, facing rival Alex Pereira in a five-round title fight.
Adesanya and Pereira are expected to meet at UFC 281 on November 12th, per an announcement made by the middleweight champion on ESPN’s SportCenter this Friday. The fight will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
Adesanya, one of the UFC’s most dominant current reigning champions, has a history with Pereira. They met twice during their kickboxing careers, with Pereira earning a victory in both encounters. Most notably, Pereira handed Adesanya a third-round finish loss in 2017, marking the now-UFC champion’s last appearance in the combat sport before transitioning fully to MMA.
Pereira joined the UFC roster late last year and has already worked his way up to a title shot. He scored a fast finish victory earlier this year, stopping the momentum of Sean Strickland in the first round with a left hook knockout.
In previous appearances, Pereira beat Bruno Silva on scorecards and earned a flying knee finish over Andreas Michailidis.
Pereira currently only has an MMA record of six wins and one loss but carries with him an extensive and highly successful kickboxing career. He had a long run in top promotion GLORY Kickboxing, holding their middleweight belt during a large portion of his stint.
Adesanya will attempt to defend his belt for the sixth time in the upcoming appearance. He has already appeared twice in 2022, scoring wins over Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier.
Stevie Ray Beats Anthony Pettis For Second Time, Earns PFL Grand Final Spot
PFL’s lightweight and light heavyweight grand final bouts were confirmed at their event on Friday night.
Light heavyweights Omari Akhmedov and Rob Wilkinson are expected to appear in the grand finals later this year. At lightweight, it will be Stevie Ray and Olivier Aubin-Mercier competing in the fall.
The grand final spots were decided with fights at the Hulu Theatre in New York City, New York, USA this weekend.
Stevie Ray earned a lightweight grand final spot in Friday’s main event, scoring his second consecutive unanimous decision win over high-profile veteran Anthony Pettis.
Ray’s victory came from a slow-paced fight that mostly took place on the feet. Ray was able to land the better strikes during these exchanges and also succeeded in brief grappling bouts.
Ray has now beat Pettis twice in 2022. Ray secured his playoff spot with a regular season win against Pettis in June, submitting him in the second round of a bout.
Pettis scored enough points to enter the playoffs earlier in the year, defeating Bellator alum Myles Price in the first round of a bout via submission.
A full report on the main card can be read here.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card (6:00PM EDT)
Bout 1: Marthin Hamlet def. Cory Hendricks via Decision, Split
Bout 2: Itso Babulaidze def. Mahmoud Sebie via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:30)
Main Card (7:00PM EDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 3: Rob Wilkinson def. Delan Monte via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:37) (PFL Light Heavyweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Bout 4: Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Alexander Martinez via Decision, Unanimous (PFL Lightweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Bout 5: Omari Akhmedov def. Josh Silveira via Decision, Unanimous (PFL Light Heavyweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Bout 6: Stevie Ray def. Anthony Pettis via Decision, Unanimous (PFL Lightweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Postlims (9:00PM EDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Brahyan Zurcher def. Ricardo Jimenez via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Elvin Espinoza def. Corey Jackson via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Alexei Pergande def. Elvis Lebron Quiles via Decision, Split
Bout 10: Marcelo Nunes def. Dylan Potter via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 1, 1:47)
Jason Witt vs. Josh Quinlan Off Saturday’s UFC Card, Moved To August 13th Event
Josh Quinlan’s UFC debut will happen a week later than previously expected. The promotional newcomer’s bout against Jason Witt has been removed from Saturday’s “Fight Night” card, and has already been transferred to the promotion’s August 13th show.
The bout will now take place at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, USA. The reason for the bout’s delay is not known at the moment.
Evy Rodrigues was the first to report the bout’s delay. MMA Fighting later announced the new date for the bout.
Quinlan was scheduled to join the roster with an undefeated record of five wins. He earned his UFC contract last year on “Dana White’s Contender Series,” earning a 47-second win over Logan Urban. However, that fight was later overturned to a no contest due to a drug test on Quinlan.
Witt will now have to wait another week before he can bounce back from a loss he took earlier this year against Philip Rowe.
Preview
UFC on ESPN 59: Santos vs. Hill
UFC’s light heavyweight division will be the main spotlight this weekend, as ranked talents Jamahal Hill and Thiago Santos will face off. Riding the momentum of his first-ever UFC main event, Hill will aim to shoot up the 205-pound ranks with another victory. For Santos, this fight allows him to pick up a win after a recent unsuccessful performance.
That bout is scheduled to headline a card this weekend at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Along with that bout is a finale for “The Ultimate Fighter,” plus eight other UFC matchups.
A full preview of the show can be read at this link.
Here’s the bout order:
Preliminary Card (7:00PM EDT / 4:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 1: Mayra Bueno Silva (8-2-1) vs. Stephanie Egger (7-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Cory McKenna (6-2) vs. Miranda Granger (7-2) (Strawweight)
Bout 3: Takashi Sato (16-5) vs. Bryan Battle (7-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 4: Terrance McKinney (12-4) vs. Erick Gonzalez (14-6) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Michal Oleksiejczuk (16-5) vs. Sam Alvey (33-17-1) (Middleweight)
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 6: Ariane Lipski (14-7) vs. Priscila Cachoeira (11-4) (Flyweight)
Bout 7: Augusto Sakai (15-4-1) vs. Serghei Spivac (14-3) (Heavyweight)
Bout 8: Juliana Miller (2-1) vs. Brogan Walker (7-2) (The Ultimate Fighter Flyweight Grand Final)
Bout 9: Zac Pauga (5-0) vs. Mohammed Usman (7-2) (The Ultimate Fighter Heavyweight Grand Final)
Bout 10: Vicente Luque (21-8-1) vs. Geoff Neal (14-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 11: Thiago Santos (22-10) vs. Jamahal Hill (10-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Stay Connected
Twitter: @JackWannan - Follow the site: @KnockdownNews
Reading this update on a browser? Sign up for free with your email to get the newsletter sent to you right as it drops!