ISRAEL ADESANYA's reign as UFC middleweight champion came to a brutal end at the hands of Alex Pereira.
The Last Stylebender renewed his rivalry with the Glory double champ early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Adesanya, 33, went into the penultimate pay-per-view main event of the year looking to avenge the brutal knockout loss he suffered to Pereira in his final kickboxing bout five years ago.
But the same fate befell him in the fifth round of a thriller at The World's Most Famous Arena.
Adesanya was his usual elusive self to begin with, mixing his trademark feints with swift leg kicks.
He managed to draw several big reactions from the big Brazilian, whom he sent backwards with a good stiff right hand
Pereira tried to utilise heavy pressure and threw his left hook multiple times - although Adesanya was wise to it.
He did, however, find a home for the hook that stopped the fan favourite five years ago before narrowly missing with a flying knee.
But Adesanya punctuated the round with a nasty right hand and a left hook that wobbled Pereira before the horn.
Adesanya's elusiveness proved to be a problem for Pereira again in the second.
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