When is Israel Adesanya's next fight?

Israel Adesanya is gearing up to defend his UFC middleweight title against Alex Pereira at the main event of UFC 281 on November 12, 2022, at Madison Square Garden.

'The Last Stylebender' maintained his place atop the 185-pound division with a unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier last time out at UFC 276 in July. It was Adesanya's fifth successful title defense. Prior to that victory, Adesanya edged out a unanimous decision win over former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a rematch at UFC 271.

The middleweight king will now look to solidify his place as arguably the best 185-pounder of all time when he takes on his archrival from his Glory Kickboxing days.

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Does Alex Pereira possess the skills to dethrone Israel Adesanya at UFC 281?

Alex Pereira is relatively new to the MMA world with only seven fights in his professional record. The Brazilian clearly lacks the experience as a mixed martial artist when compared to other challengers in the middleweight division. However, he makes up for it with his elite-level kickboxing skills, which has also been a major factor behind Adesanya's success in MMA.

A multi-time kickboxing world champion across multiple divisions, 'Poatan' has compiled a total of 21 knockout victories during his kickboxing career and holds five impressive finishes on his 6-1 MMA resume. This includes a recent first-round knockout of top middleweight contender Sean Strickland in July and a sensational second-round flying-knee TKO of Andreas Michailidis in November.

Not to mention, Alex Pereira already holds a pair of wins over Israel Adesanya in the kickboxing world and happens to be the only man to have ever knocked out 'The Last Stylebender' in any combat sport.

Watch Alex Pereira's stunning knockout of Israel Adesanya below:

All things considered, Pereira certainly has the skills to stop Adesanya's dominant run as the middleweight champion. The Brazilian has also been working hard on his grappling with former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira in Connecticut.

According to several sportsbooks, Adesanya will enter the bout as a sizeable betting favorite. 'The Last Stylebender' is currently listed as a -170 favorite against the challenger, who comes in at +139 on popular sportsbook Bovada.