What’s next for the stars of UFC 287?
The UFC finally returned to Miami, Florida on Saturday for UFC 287 which saw the middleweight title up for grabs.
In the main event, Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya were having their rematch in MMA while fighting for the fourth time in combat sports. The two fought back in November at UFC 281 with Pereira scoring a fifth-round comeback TKO win to become the new champ. It was also the third time he beat Adesanya in combat sports. The co-main event of UFC 287 saw Gilbert Burns take on Jorge Masvidal.
In the end, it was Adesanya reclaiming his title with a second-round KO win over Pereira. The co-main event saw Burns dominate Masvidal and won a clear-cut decision. Now, after UFC 287, here is what I think should be next for the four fighters involved in the big fights.
Israel Adesanya & Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya was named the new UFC middleweight champion on Saturday, but the problem is, he has basically cleared out everyone in the top-five. There is the possibility of a trilogy with Robert Whittaker or facing Khamzat Chimaev, but to me, the Swede needs a top-five win at 185lbs.
With that, I think the fight to make is running this scrap back. Adesanya and Pereira are rivals and are now 1-1 in MMA so running it back makes sense, especially with no clear-cut challenger for Adesanya. Although Adesanya didn’t seem too interested in making the fight happen, to me, this is the fight to make and have it happen sometime in the fall.
