.png)
Many people briefly believed Israel Adesanya may remain unbeaten for an even longer period of time after his successful defense of the UFC Middleweight championship six times over the course of three years. But Alex Pereira, who now has the belt, was the only opponent he ever defeated when they were both competitive kickboxers. An agonizing TKO loss that happened in November 2022. Adesanya was solely interested in getting his rematch as soon as the concussion protocol phase was over.
Although Adesanya's six-month sentence will be cut short by two days, the UFC is making an exemption. On April 8 during the UFC 287 main event, "Izzy" will have the opportunity to exact retribution against Pereira.
UFC President Dana White provided the full roster for this fight in a social media video. Adesanya vs. Pereira is the night's big event, which makes sense given how strong the rest of the card is. However, there are at least two or three fights on that card that will undoubtedly cause a stir. This will be Israel Adesanya's last opportunity to win back the title he lost or to demonstrate his inability to defeat the one opponent who has already beaten him twice by TKO in different sports. However, the fight that comes before this one is also extremely spectacular.
Jorge Masvidal hopes to turn around his recent string of poor results against a really tough opponent after going several months without a fight. Khamzat Chimaev's hardest opponent in the UFC thus far was the Brazilian Gilbert Burns; the match had to go to the scorecards. The Welterweight who finally got under Chimaev's skin after three straight defeats is Jorge Masvidal's opponent. Masvidal will have a difficult fight; he needs to prepare himself thoroughly. A strong co-main event will follow a loaded division. The other intriguing match pits Christian Rodriguez, 18, against 18-year-old Raul Rozas Jr. in the bantamweight division.