Needing a finish heading into the fifth and final round, Alex Pereira landed his most powerful shots when he needed them the most and stunned Israel Adesanya to become the brand new UFC middleweight champion of the world to cap off a memorable UFC 281 event.
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew react to Pereira’s comeback win, whether or not the stoppage was too early, and discuss the potential of a massive rematch. Additionally, they talk Zhang Weili stopping Carla Esparza to regain the strawweight title, the chaotic Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler fight — which was won by Poirier via a third-round submission — Frankie Edgar retiring with a devastating knockout from the perfectly timed flying knee of Chris Gutierrez, along with other notable moments from the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden in New York.
Watch the UFC 281 post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever else you get your pods.