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MIAMI — Alex Pereira defends his middleweight championship against Israel Adesanya in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 287, a rematch of their November fight in which Pereira took away the belt via knockout.
The main card will be on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. and early prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.
Pereira (7-1) has not lost since his MMA debut in 2015, and all but one of his victories have been via knockout. He is tied for No. 10 in the ESPN pound-for-pound men’s rankings. The fifth-ranked Adesanya (23-2) has lost only once in 24 career middleweight fights. However, the defeat in November was his fourth loss to Pereira in combat sports, as they twice met in kickboxing.
The co-main event at Miami-Dade Arena has much local interest as both Gilbert Burns and his welterweight opponent, Jorge Masvidal, are based in South Florida. Both are former UFC title challengers, as a win for either will likely make them contenders later this year.
Follow along as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim and Mike Coppinger break down all 13 matches at the Kaseya Center on Saturday night.