The Nigerian-New Zealander referred to his triumph over the Brazilian as sweet retaliation.
In the main event of UFC 287 on Sunday, Israel Adesanya brutally knocked out Alex Pereira to reclaim the UFC Middleweight title.
At the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, it took Adesanya two rounds to defeat his rival.
Pereira defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing before following the Nigerian-New Zealander into mixed martial arts, where he won the UFC title with a Knockout in November. This was their fourth encounter.
The situation changed, though, in the wee hours of Sunday when Adesanya unexpectedly delivered the knockout shot that sent Pereira sprawling to the ground.
With Adesanya backed up against the cage, Pereira started out on the attack, throwing body hooks and a knee to the ribs, but the challenger launched a right hook out of nowhere, sending the Brazilian into a tailspin.
The hook paralyzed Pereira, and Adesanya used a one-two and a hammer punch to knock the champion down cold.
Adesanya and Pereira have faced off four times in the past seven years, but since their first encounter in a kickboxing match in 2017, the Nigerian has been overshadowed by the Brazilian, leading him to describe his victory over Pereira as a sweet kind of retaliation.
