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This weekend saw the UFC visit Miami, Florida, for its latest big pay-per-view. Unsurprisingly, the fans in attendance were treated to some serious action.
UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 saw a number of thrilling finishes, both on the main card and on the prelims, and it’s likely that we’ll be seeing replays of them for some time.
If anything, it was a surprise to learn that Dana White and company didn’t give out more than four $50k performance bonuses.
Here are the four best finishes from UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2.
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#5. Steve Garcia defeated Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via KO in a UFC featherweight bout
Few fans were paying any attention to Steve Garcia’s featherweight bout with Shayilan Nuerdanbieke on last night’s preliminary card.
However, there’s an argument that this clash, rather than Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis, deserved to take UFC 287’s ‘Fight of the Night’ award.
Early on, it looked like Nuerdanbieke was on his way to a win. He dropped Garcia with a brutal right hand in the first round, and ‘Mean Machine’ was only just able to hang on.
By the end of the stanza, though, Garcia had begun to fight his way back into the bout. In the second, he looked confident, and it didn’t take him long to capitalize.
After hurting the Chinese fighter with a kick to the face, Garcia backed him up and then hurt him badly with a kick to the body. ‘The Wolverine’ crumpled, and moments later, Garcia had claimed his second octagon win in a row.
Whether ‘Mean Machine’ can rise up the card from here remains to be seen, but this was an excellent finish that really should’ve netted him a nice $50k bonus.
#4. Joe Pyfer defeated Gerald Meerschaert via KO in a UFC middleweight bout
A graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series, middleweight prospect Joe Pyfer had some hype around him coming into UFC 287 after winning his octagon debut via KO last September.
‘Bodybagz’ was faced with a much tougher out this time around – veteran Gerald Meerschaert, who had 10 octagon finishes to his name. However, Pyfer blew through him, proving that he might be ready for the big time.
The fight was only just over three minutes old when Pyfer landed the killer blow. Countering a body kick, he drilled ‘GM3’ with a brutal left hook and right hand that put him on the ground.
From there, a quick flurry of extra punches sealed the deal, despite referee Marc Goddard giving Meerschaert every opportunity to recover from the strikes.
Overall, this was a major win for Pyfer over a far more experienced opponent, and the fact that he did it without taking any damage himself was impressive. Expect to see him on the main card for his next event.
#3. Rob Font defeated Adrian Yanez via KO in a UFC bantamweight bout
Rob Font’s bantamweight clash with Adrian Yanez was definitely one of UFC 287’s most highly anticipated clashes. Yanez, a hot prospect, was looking to essentially steal Font’s top 10 ranking.
However, despite scoring four knockouts thus far into his octagon career, Yanez seemed to be slightly out of his depth with the more experienced Font.
Both men landed plenty of strikes in the early exchanges of the fight, but Font always seemed to be a slight step ahead, landing his ramrod jab over and over. It was actually an uppercut that seemed to hurt Yanez, though, wobbling his knees. From there, Font just didn’t let up.
Sensing blood, he swarmed all over his opponent, knocking him down with a right hand shovel punch. From there, he smashed him with hammer fists for a stoppage.
Yanez will undoubtedly be back in the future, but this was a great win for Font. More to the point, the fact that he won via stoppage – his first finish since 2020 – was huge. This win proved that he’s not just a gatekeeper, but a viable title contender at 135 pounds.
#2. Kevin Holland defeated Santiago Ponzinibbio via KO in a UFC welterweight bout
Were it not for the wild finish in the main event, the best finish at UFC 287 would almost certainly have been Kevin Holland’s knockout of Santiago Ponzinibbio.
‘Trailblazer’ hung tough for three rounds of what was a high-action, violent fight, but despite taking plenty of big shots, he never seemed hurt by his Argentine foe.
In the third round, though, he landed the kind of shot that a fighter would dream about landing, and switched off Ponzinibbio’s lights immediately.
‘Trailblazer’ seemed to hurt ‘Argentine Dagger’ with a right hand, and with the Ponzinibbio wobbled, Holland closed in and dropped him face-first with a truly savage left hook.
One extra shot made the finish academic, and although Ponzinibbio seemed to protest afterwards, it was painfully clear that he was done.
Holland won’t get his requested fight with Jorge Masvidal next, as ‘Gamebred’ retired later in the evening, but this win should at least secure him another big fight next time out, even if it wasn’t enough to net him an extra $50k.
#1. Israel Adesanya defeated Alex Pereira via KO to win the UFC middleweight title
When Alex Pereira knocked out Israel Adesanya last November to claim the UFC middleweight title, he also produced one of the promotion’s most stunning finishes of 2022.
Last night, many fans were expecting ‘Poatan’ to pull off a similar feat in his highly anticipated rematch with ‘The Last Stylebender’. After all, he’d beaten Adesanya in all three of their previous encounters.
This time, though, it was not to be for the Brazilian. After two rounds of incredible action, it was actually Adesanya who uncorked a wonderful finish to reclaim the title he lost last year.
‘The Last Stylebender’ looked more aggressive than usual in the early goings of the fight. That seemed to surprise Pereira, who couldn’t quite get into his rhythm in the first round.
In the second, though, his leg kicks appeared to be paying dividends. Adesanya was clearly hurt by them, and began to back off, allowing ‘Poatan’ to walk him down.
After one particularly nasty low kick, the Brazilian sensed that Adesanya was struggling and closed in with a big combination.
Remarkably, though, ‘The Last Stylebender’ had enough in him to throw a clean right hand that stumbled Pereira – and he followed with an even cleaner one that knocked the champion unconscious.
This was a truly stunning win for Adesanya, and not only was it his first finish since his stoppage of Paulo Costa in 2020, it was arguably the biggest win of his career.
When you consider what Pereira had done to him previously, to have the ability to land a shot like that from a defensive position was phenomenal. There’s no doubt, of course, that it was the best finish of UFC 287.
