Familiar foes who met each other twice on the pro kickboxing circuit, Pereira and Adesanya have long been on a collision course in the sport of mixed martial arts, and after Brazil’s Pereira raced out to three impressive wins in the Octagon, he was matched up with Adesanya, one of the UFC’s most dominant titleholders, in the main event of UFC 281 last November in Madison Square Garden.
For four rounds, the pair battled it out in a war of nerves that thrilled the capacity crowd, but in the fifth, it was Pereira scoring the come from behind stoppage at 2:01 of the round to win the middleweight title.
At UFC 287, they’ll meet again.
In the co-main event, it’s the long-awaited return of Jorge Masvidal, as he faces number five ranked welterweight contender Gilbert Burns, who is fresh from a big win over Neil Magny last weekend in Rio de Janeiro.
Also announced Friday by UFC President Dana White were the following UFC 287 bouts:
Raul Rosas Jr. vs Christian Rodriguez
Kevin Holland vs Santiago Ponzinibbio
Rob Font vs Adrian Yanez
Gerald Meerschaert vs Joe Pyfer
