The
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title will be on
the line in the
UFC 287 main event.
Both champion Alex
Pereira and challenger Israel
Adesanya successfully made weight for the upcoming championship
rematch. All of the fighters except one for the 13-fight card,
which is co-headlined by a welterweight scrap between Gilbert
Burns and Jorge
Masvidal, also made weight. The lone miss was Christian
Rodriguez, who checked in at 137 pounds. Due to being one pound
over the bantamweight limit, he has been fined 20% of his purse for
his bout against Raul Rosas
Jr.
Pereira (7-1) has been perfect inside the Octagon, and dispatched
his former kickboxing rival in their first mixed martial arts
meeting. It wasn’t easy, though, as it took a late TKO rally for “Poatan” to claim the belt. The Brazilian will look to dispel any
notions of the victory being a fluke in the rematch. Pereira
stepped on the scale at 185 pounds on the dot.
The impressive middleweight title reign of “The Last Stylebender”
came to an end in his prior outing as he was finished by a barrage
of punches in the fifth round. The loss snapped a three-fight win
streak for Adesanya (23-2), whose only other MMA defeat came in a
light heavyweight championship match against Jan
Blachowicz. Adesanya looked sharp on the scale, and came in at
184.5 pounds for his shot at redemption.
The UFC 287 main card will air on ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday. Prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on
ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass before transitioning to ESPN and ESPN+ at
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
UFC 287 Weigh-in Results:
Alex
Pereira (185) vs. Israel
Adesanya (184.5)
Gilbert
Burns (170) vs. Jorge
Masvidal (171)
Rob
Font (135) vs. Adrian
Yanez (135.5)
Kevin
Holland (170.5) vs. Santiago
Ponzinibbio (171)
Christian
Rodriguez (137)* vs. Raul Rosas
Jr. (135)
Kelvin
Gastelum (185) vs. Chris
Curtis (186)
Luana
Pinheiro (115.5) vs. Michelle
Waterson-Gomez (116)
Chase
Sherman (249.5) vs. Karl
Williams (241)
Gerald
Meerschaert (185.5) vs. Joseph
Pyfer (185.5)
Cynthia
Calvillo (116) vs. Lupita
Godinez (115.5)
Ignacio
Bahamondes (159.5) vs. Trey Ogden
(159.5)
Steve
Garcia (145.5) vs. Nuerdanbieke
Shayilan (146)
Jaqueline
Amorim (115.5) vs. Sam Hughes
(116)
* Rodriguez missed weight by one pound and has been fined 20% of
his purse.