Alex Pereira is the new UFC middleweight champ after earning a stunning late TKO of Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 tonight.

The highly technical battle saw Adesanya take the advantage early, almost putting Pereira away at the end of the first round. The Nigerian then dominated the next few rounds, rocking Pereira and taking him down on several occasions.

But then in the final round, Pereira staged a remarkable come-from-behind win by unloading on Israel against the fence and getting the TKO.

Pereira is now middleweight champ after just four fights in the UFC and eight in total. It was his seventh successive victory, all but one of which have come via knockout.

While for Israel, the loss is his first at middleweight and ends his championship reign that began in late 2019 and saw him make five defenses.