Fight history
Pereira vs. Adesanya 1, UFC 281: The Stoppage, the Judges and the Stats
Adesanya won three of the first four rounds on every card and only had to see out the fifth. Two minutes into it he was hurt on the fence, and Marc Goddard stepped in.
Adesanya
PereiraAt a glance
- ResultPereira by TKO (punches), round 5, 2:01; referee Marc Goddard
- The judgesEric Colon, Sal D'Amato and Mike Bell all had Adesanya ahead 39-37 after four rounds
- The stakesAdesanya's middleweight title, held since October 2019, against the man who had beaten him twice in kickboxing
- The statsAdesanya led 77-63 in significant strikes after four rounds; Pereira landed 28 of 37 in the fifth
- The stoppageAdesanya protested at once; the referee and Adesanya's own coach stood by it
- Our verdict39-37 Adesanya after four on our card too, and a correct stoppage
What was at stake
Four years ago this week, the middleweight title changed hands between two men whose rivalry began in kickboxing. Israel Adesanya had held the belt since UFC 243 in October 2019 and defended it five times, as the official record shows; Sherdog counts the reign at 1,134 days, which matches the dates. He was 23-1, and his one defeat had come at light heavyweight against Jan Blachowicz, as Arise News and the official record show.
Alex Pereira, 35, had beaten him twice in kickboxing, in 2016 and 2017, as Yahoo Sports and Arise News both report, the second time by knockout, which Arise News and UFC.com note. UFC 281 was only his fourth UFC fight, as UFC.com, Yahoo Sports and Arise News all record, and he had earned it by knocking out Sean Strickland at UFC 276 in July 2022, as Arise News and the official record show.
The betting made Adesanya a clear favorite: -215 to Pereira's +175 at SI Sportsbook, and -230 to +190 at Caesars in CBS Sports' preview.
The official result and the judges' cards
| Winner | Method | Round | Time | Referee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Pereira | TKO (punches) | 5 of 5 | 2:01 | Marc Goddard |
The official statistics record a KO/TKO by "Punches to Head At Distance"; UFC.com, Sherdog and CBS Sports list a TKO by punches. The official statistics, Sherdog and CBS Sports all name Marc Goddard as the referee.
Four rounds were completed, so this finish has cards. The UFC published them only as an image, which we could not open. Sportskeeda and MMA Weekly name the judges, and Sportskeeda and ESPN give the same split: every judge gave Adesanya the first, third and fourth rounds and Pereira the second. Yahoo Sports and Arise News report the same 39-37 totals.
| Judge | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | After four |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Colon | 9-10 | 10-9 | 9-10 | 9-10 | 37-39 |
| Sal D'Amato | 9-10 | 10-9 | 9-10 | 9-10 | 37-39 |
| Mike Bell | 9-10 | 10-9 | 9-10 | 9-10 | 37-39 |
Pereira's score first. No fifth round was scored: the fight ended 2:01 into it.
That arithmetic is why the stoppage still matters. A 10-9 fifth round for Pereira would have left Adesanya the winner 48-47 on every card, and even a 10-8 would only have drawn them. Pereira needed a finish. "Do I have to knock him out?" he said he asked Glover Teixeira before the round, in words Sherdog and CBS Sports both print. Teixeira's answer is reported as "You do have to knock him out" by Sherdog and "You better knock him out" by CBS Sports; the meaning is the same.
Round by round
Round 1 - Adesanya on all three cards
A kickboxing round, as CBS Sports and Bleacher Report both call it, and level on the official count: 23 significant strikes each, 6-1 to the head for Adesanya, 14-11 to the legs for Pereira. Just before the horn Adesanya hurt Pereira badly. Sherdog's report says he nearly finished him, and CBS Sports has Pereira visibly rocked. The punches are described differently: an overhand right and a left hook in Sherdog's report, a right behind the ear and a left hook in Bleacher Report, a right hand in Cageside Press and theScore. The official count has no knockdown.
Round 2 - Pereira on all three cards
Pereira came back behind jabs and body shots, as Cageside and theScore describe, rocked Adesanya with a head kick, in Sherdog's and CBS Sports' accounts, and took him down just before the horn, which Sherdog, CBS Sports, theScore, Cageside and Bleacher Report all report. Adesanya failed on both his takedown attempts, as Bleacher Report and the official count show. He still out-landed Pereira 20 to 17 in significant strikes and had 1:13 of control to 0:21; the judges went with the kick and the takedown.
Round 3 - Adesanya on all three cards
Adesanya took Pereira down and got his back, the first takedown of his UFC career, as CBS Sports, Cageside Press and Bleacher Report all note, and ended the round with an axe kick, in Sherdog's and CBS Sports' accounts. Officially he had 3:47 of control (nearly 3:50 in Bleacher Report, nearly four minutes in Sherdog) and out-landed Pereira 14 to 8.
Round 4 - Adesanya on all three cards
Pereira slowed, as Sherdog, CBS Sports, theScore and Cageside Press all describe, while Adesanya worked at range with the jab, the right hand and body kicks. Officially Adesanya out-landed him 20 to 15 in significant strikes, with 1:08 of control. Pereira won the clinch, four significant strikes to none, and total strikes, 30 to 26.
Round 5 - Pereira by TKO at 2:01
Pereira backed Adesanya to the fence, as Sherdog and Bleacher Report describe, and hurt him with a combination that Sherdog's report gives as a right uppercut and a left hook, Bleacher Report as a jab, a right, an uppercut and a left hook, and Fox News as a heavy right. Adesanya went to the canvas for a moment and came straight back up, in the accounts of Sherdog's play-by-play, theScore, Bleacher Report and Cageside; CBS Sports has him knocked off his feet, and the official count records no knockdown. Pereira kept punching as Adesanya covered up on the fence with his head down, as Sherdog's report describes and both men later said, and Goddard stepped in at 2:01. Adesanya protested at once, CBS Sports and theScore report. Pereira landed 28 of 37 significant strikes in the round, 18 to the head; Adesanya landed 9.
What the numbers say
The official statistics, round by round (Pereira first; landed/thrown for strikes, landed/attempted for takedowns):
| Round | Sig. strikes | Head | Body | Legs | Total strikes | TD | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 23/41 – 23/43 | 1 – 6 | 8 – 6 | 14 – 11 | 28/46 – 23/44 | 0/0 – 0/0 | 0:06 – 0:14 |
| R2 | 17/36 – 20/44 | 12 – 14 | 4 – 2 | 1 – 4 | 33/54 – 30/54 | 1/1 – 0/2 | 0:21 – 1:13 |
| R3 | 8/14 – 14/25 | 3 – 7 | 3 – 5 | 2 – 2 | 19/29 – 31/52 | 0/0 – 1/1 | 0:00 – 3:47 |
| R4 | 15/29 – 20/35 | 8 – 10 | 4 – 6 | 3 – 4 | 30/45 – 26/44 | 0/0 – 0/1 | 0:02 – 1:08 |
| After four | 63/120 – 77/147 | 24 – 37 | 19 – 19 | 20 – 21 | 110/174 – 110/194 | 1/1 – 1/4 | 0:29 – 6:22 |
| R5 (2:01) | 28/37 – 9/15 | 18 – 4 | 8 – 2 | 2 – 3 | 30/40 – 9/15 | 0/0 – 0/0 | 0:02 – 0:12 |
| Total | 91/157 – 86/162 | 42 – 41 | 27 – 21 | 22 – 24 | 140/214 – 119/209 | 1/1 – 1/4 | 0:31 – 6:34 |
Through four rounds the count backs the judges: Adesanya led 77 to 63 in significant strikes and 37 to 24 to the head, with 6:22 of control to 0:29. Total strikes were level at 110, because Pereira landed more of the strikes the significant count leaves out.
The fifth turned the totals around. Pereira's 28 significant strikes in 121 seconds were more than he landed in any full round, and he finished ahead 91 to 86. No knockdown is recorded for either man in any round.
What the count cannot show is the leg Adesanya later blamed. Pereira landed 14 strikes to the legs in round 1 and 6 in the next three; what they did to Adesanya's leg, no count can measure.
Was the stoppage early?
Adesanya thought so. He protested in the cage and said afterwards he had been lucid, as CBS Sports and MMA Junkie report. On The MMA Hour two days later he said his leg, hurt by the calf kicks, made him stumble, not the punches, and that he had been covering up while waiting for Pereira to tire, as MMA Junkie, Heavy and LowKick MMA report. "I didn't get dropped. Yeah, I got wobbled, but I wobbled because of my leg," he said, in words MMA Junkie and Heavy both print. He also argued that Goddard, who refereed his win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, had given Gastelum far more room after being dropped, as MMA Junkie and Heavy report. He said he did not blame the referee.
Goddard wrote on social media that "protection is paramount", as LowKick MMA prints it and BJPenn.com headlines it. Adesanya's head coach Eugene Bareman said he could not honestly call it early: "I saw some signs that he was in trouble," in words MiddleEasy and Calfkicker both print. The coach Firas Zahabi thought worse was coming: "Guys, if the referee did not intervene, a scissor knee was coming," as MMA Junkie and LowKick both quote him. Pereira told Adesanya on Instagram: "You have to thank him for saving your life," in words Heavy and LowKick both carry.
Our view: it was not early. A referee has to decide whether a fighter is defending himself, not whether he is conscious, and Adesanya was not defending himself. He had just gone down, from the punches or from his leg, and was on the fence with his head down while Pereira threw everything. The leg does not help his case: a fighter whose leg will not carry him off the fence is in more danger, not less. The Gastelum point is fair as far as it goes, but Goddard had to judge the fighter in front of him.
The scorecards are what make it hurt, and they are what a referee must ignore. Adesanya was three minutes from a decision; UFC.com's Thomas Gerbasi wrote that he could have coasted to it, and credited him for not sitting on his lead. That choice was Adesanya's. The stoppage was Goddard's, and he got it right.
How we scored it
| Round | MMA.SOCIAL | Why |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10-9 Adesanya | Level at 23 significant strikes each, 6-1 to the head, and the late combination that nearly finished Pereira. |
| R2 | 10-9 Pereira | The head kick that rocked Adesanya and the late takedown outweigh Adesanya's 20-17 edge in lighter shots. |
| R3 | 10-9 Adesanya | The takedown, 3:47 of control from the back and 14-8 in significant strikes. Clear. |
| R4 | 10-9 Adesanya | 20-15 in significant strikes and the better work at range while Pereira faded. Clear. |
| After four | 39-37 Adesanya | The same as all three judges. |
| R5 | Pereira by TKO, 2:01 | A correct stoppage: Adesanya was hurt on the fence and not answering. |
We match the judges round for round. Round 2 is the only real argument: Adesanya landed and controlled more, but Pereira's head kick was the hardest strike of the round and his takedown ended it. Round 1 could go to Pereira on leg kicks and total strikes, 28 to 23, but the last seconds did the most damage, and they were Adesanya's.
What happened next
UFC 287: Adesanya's revenge
Five months later, at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023, Pereira had Adesanya backed to the fence in round 2 when Adesanya landed two right hands that dropped him and a hammerfist, and referee Dan Miragliotta stopped it at 4:21, as MMA Junkie and SuperSport describe and the official record shows. It was Adesanya's first win over Pereira in four meetings across the two sports, which both outlets note.
Pereira at light heavyweight
Pereira moved up, beat Blachowicz by split decision at UFC 291 in July 2023 and won the vacant title by stopping Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 that November, as CBS Sports and the official record show. He defended it three times by knockout, against Jamahal Hill, Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr., in the official record; CBS Sports counts four defenses, which the record does not support. He lost it to Magomed Ankalaev on a decision at UFC 313 in March 2025 and took it back in 80 seconds at UFC 320 that October, as CBS Sports and the official record show.
Pereira at heavyweight
In 2026 he gave up that belt to move up, as CBS Sports reports; Carlos Ulberg won it by stopping Prochazka at UFC 327, the official record shows. In his heavyweight debut, for the interim title at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026, Ciryl Gane dropped him early in round 2, with a right hand in theScore's account and a jab in UFC.com's and Cageside Press's, and stopped him at 1:27. It ended his bid for a title in a third division, which theScore and Cageside note would have been a UFC first. He fights Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335 on December 12, as Cageside Press and MMA Sucka report.
Adesanya since
Adesanya has not won since UFC 287, as PostWrestling notes and the official record shows: he lost the title to Strickland on a decision at UFC 293 in September 2023, was submitted by Dricus du Plessis in the fourth round of a title fight at UFC 305 in August 2024, and was stopped in the second round by Nassourdine Imavov in February 2025 and by Joe Pyfer on March 28, 2026. That is four straight losses, as Sky Sports also reports.
The verdict
Pereira vs. Adesanya 1 is remembered for the stoppage, and the stoppage was right. Adesanya was winning on every card, ours included, and lost a title he was three minutes from keeping. But he was hurt, on the fence and not answering when Goddard stepped in, and his own coach said he saw the signs. Pereira needed a finish and got one. Adesanya's knockout five months later showed he could beat Pereira; it did not show that Goddard got the first fight wrong.
Full fight stats: Adesanya vs. Pereira. The rest of the night: UFC 281. More: the most title fights in UFC history.
Sources
- UFCStats round-by-round statistics (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFCStats fight results, method and referee (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- Sportskeeda - Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya scorecards from UFC 281 (search extract)
- MMA Weekly - UFC 281 official scorecard: Adesanya vs. Pereira (search extract)
- ESPN - Alex Pereira stuns Israel Adesanya by TKO to claim UFC title (search extract)
- Yahoo Sports (Jack Baer) - Pereira's fifth-round KO of Adesanya stunned the MMA world
- Yahoo Sports (Kevin Iole) - Adesanya left to pick up the pieces after third loss to Pereira
- Arise News - Alex Pereira stuns Israel Adesanya by TKO to claim UFC title
- CBS Sports - UFC 281 results: Pereira rallies to stun Adesanya and claim title
- CBS Sports - UFC 281 prediction and odds
- SI - UFC 281 odds: Adesanya vs. Pereira
- Sherdog - UFC 281 play-by-play and round scoring
- Sherdog - Pereira unseats Adesanya, forces fifth-round stoppage
- Sherdog - Pereira credits Glover Teixeira for urgent corner advice
- UFC.com - UFC 281 results and winner interviews
- UFC.com - The Scorecard: UFC 281 (Thomas Gerbasi)
- theScore - Pereira stuns Adesanya with fifth-round TKO to win the title
- Bleacher Report - UFC 281 results: Adesanya's shocking loss
- Bleacher Report - Pereira proves to be Adesanya's kryptonite again
- Cageside Press - Pereira mounts late comeback, stops Adesanya in the fifth
- Fox News - Pereira shocks Adesanya with fifth-round TKO
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - Adesanya insists the stoppage was premature
- Heavy - Pereira breaks silence on Adesanya's early-stoppage claims
- LowKick MMA - Pereira urges Adesanya to thank the referee
- LowKick MMA - Marc Goddard's statement after the UFC 281 stoppage
- LowKick MMA - Marc Goddard defends the stoppage
- LowKick MMA - Adesanya reveals nerve injury suffered at UFC 281
- LowKick MMA - Firas Zahabi praises the UFC 281 stoppage
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - Zahabi: Pereira could have ended Adesanya's career
- MiddleEasy - Adesanya's coach weighs in on the stoppage
- Calfkicker - Adesanya's coach on why it was not an early stoppage
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - UFC 287: Adesanya gets revenge on Pereira
- SuperSport - Adesanya finally slays Pereira, reclaims middleweight crown
- CBS Sports - Pereira explains the move to heavyweight
- theScore - Gane TKOs Pereira to claim interim heavyweight title
- UFC.com - UFC Freedom 250 results
- Cageside Press - Gane spoils Pereira's heavyweight debut
- Cageside Press - Pavlovich vs. Pereira announced as UFC 335 co-main
- MMA Sucka - Pereira and Pavlovich set for UFC 335
- PostWrestling - Joe Pyfer stops Israel Adesanya
- Sky Sports - Pyfer hands Adesanya a fourth consecutive loss
Questions
Who won Pereira vs. Adesanya 1?
Alex Pereira, by TKO at 2:01 of the fifth round at UFC 281 on November 12, 2022. He took the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya, who had held it since October 2019, in only his fourth UFC fight.
What were the scorecards for Pereira vs. Adesanya at UFC 281?
After four rounds all three judges, Eric Colon, Sal D'Amato and Mike Bell, had Adesanya ahead 39-37. Each gave Adesanya rounds 1, 3 and 4 and Pereira round 2. The fifth round was not scored because the fight ended in it.
Was the Pereira vs. Adesanya stoppage early?
We do not think so. Adesanya was hurt, back on the fence with his head down and not firing back when referee Marc Goddard stepped in. Adesanya protested and later said his leg, not the punches, made him stumble, but his own head coach Eugene Bareman said he saw signs Adesanya was in trouble.
Did Adesanya get knocked down in round 5?
Several reports describe him going to the canvas for a moment and getting straight back up, and Adesanya says he stumbled because of his leg. The official statistics record no knockdown for either fighter in any round.
Who won the Pereira vs. Adesanya rematch?
Israel Adesanya, by knockout at 4:21 of the second round at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023. Backed to the fence, he dropped Pereira with two right hands and regained the middleweight title.
How many times have Pereira and Adesanya fought?
Four times. Pereira won their two kickboxing fights, in 2016 and 2017, and the first MMA fight at UFC 281. Adesanya won the fourth, the UFC 287 rematch.
