[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]’s UFC run is off to a great start.
The former two-division Glory kickboxing champion had a spectacular UFC debut at Saturday’s UFC 268. Pereira (4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) knocked out [autotag]Andreas Michailidis[/autotag] with a flying knee in the second round of their middleweight contest.
The middleweight bout closed out the UFC 268 preliminary card at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on ESPNews following additional prelims on ESPN+ and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.
In the first round, Pereira was put on defensive mode for pretty much the entire round. Michailidis pressured him and looked to take him down. Michailidis briefly got a takedown, but for the most part he controlled Pereira against the cage. In the few breaks that were presented, Pereira was unable to get his striking going.
Things quickly changed in the second round. Just seconds in, Pereira leaped in the air and caught Michailidis (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) with a flying knee that sent him straight to the canvas. The Brazilian followed up with a couple of ground-and-pound shots to finish the fight.
FLYING KNEE KNOCKOUT FOR ALEX PEREIRA 😱
Stream #UFC268 next on @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/BEEAJLbQ87 pic.twitter.com/A4GSCHeEZ2
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 7, 2021
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Pereira is the only man to have knocked out UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. He holds kickboxing wins over Adesanya having outpointed him in a decision in 2016 and then knocked him out just a year later in 2017. The Brazilian has four consecutive wins. His only loss came in his MMA debut back in 2015.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 268 results include:
- Alex Pereira def. Andreas Michailidis via TKO (knee, punches) – Round 2, 0:18
- Bobby Green def. Al Iaquinta via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:25
- Chris Curtis def. Phil Hawes via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:27
- Nassourdine Imavov def. Edmen Shahbazyan via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 4:42
- Ian Garry def. Jordan Williams via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
- Chris Barnett def. Gian Villante via TKO (head kick, punches) – Round 2, 2:23
- Dustin Jacoby def. John Allan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ode Osbourne def. CJ Vergara via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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