Just 11 fights into his professional mixed martial arts career, Alex Pereira has won championship gold in a second division. Pereira defeated former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 295 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The fight played out as evenly matched as the near pick 'em gambling line suggested, with both men having moments throughout the fight. But it was a second-round flurry from Pereira that sent Prochazka to the floor and led to what initially seemed to be a controversial stoppage.
It was a left hook from Pereira that set up the finish, forcing Prochazka to dive for a double-leg takedown. Pereira responded with a flurry of elbows to the side of the head and forced Prochazka to fall to his back, which was the moment the referee jumped in to halt the fight.
The finish came at the 4:08 mark of Round 2.
"I'm not surprised," Pereira said after the fight through a translator. "After the first left hook and another one, he fell down to my legs. I don't believe it was a bad stoppage. It's a great honor for me."
Pereira again showed the continuing evolution of his young MMA career, managing to survive on the ground when Prochazka landed a takedown in Round 1. Before the end of the round, Pereira worked his way back to the feet and continued to land solid leg kicks that were clearly affecting Prochazka, who had previously won the light heavyweight title before suffering a shoulder injury that forced him to vacate the belt.
With the win, Pereira matched his accomplishments in Glory Kickboxing, winning a championship in two weight classes.
While Pereira called out rival Israel Adesanya, whom he defeated twice in kickboxing and once in the UFC to win the middleweight title before Adesanya won the UFC rematch to regain the gold, his next fight will be a defense against Jamahal Hill, who was forced to vacate the title after suffering a knee injury in a basketball game during International Fight Week.
The referee's stoppage initially appeared to verge on too early. Despite the potential controversy, Prochazka did not dispute the decision.
"I think in that end, it was right," Prochazka said. "I was out but I will never stop. Shit happens. For me, it's a big learn, let's work on that and be back stronger than ever. Thank you Alex. Thank you for this fight. I'll be back."
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In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall earned the interim heavyweight crown with a vicious knockout of Sergei Pavlovich. The fight last just over one minute as Aspinall clipped Pavlovich on the side of the head and sent him reeling. Aspinall dedicated the win to his father, who was in his corner for the bout. Elsewhere, Jessica Andrade got back in the win column win a TKO of Mackenzie Dern, Benoit Saint-Denis obliterated Matt Frevola with a head-kick knockout and Diego Lopes battered Pat Sabatini for a first-round TKO.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 295 below.
UFC 295 card and results
- Alex Pereira (c) def. Jiri Prochazka via second-round knockout (elbows)
- Tom Aspinall (ic) def. Sergei Pavlovich via first-round TKO (punches)
- Jessica Andrade def. Mackenzie Dern via second-round TKO (punch)
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Matt Frevola via first-round knockout (head kick)
- Diego Lopes def. Pat Sabatini via first-round knockout (punches)
- Steve Erceg def. Alessandro Costa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Loopy Godinez def. Tabatha Ricci via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mateusz Rebecki def. Roosevelt Roberts via first-round verbal submission (armbar)
- Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borschev ends in majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
- Jared Gordon def. Mark Madsen via first-round TKO (punches)
- John Castaneda def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joshua Van def. Kevin Borjas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jamal Emmers def. Dennis Buzukja via first-round TKO (punches)
