By The Numbers: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya understands the threat before him better than anyone.

“The Last Stylebender” will defend his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown against Alex Pereira in the UFC 281 headliner on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Adesanya, whose reign now covers more than 1,000 days, enters the Octagon at the peak of his powers. He last appeared at UFC 276, where he took a five-round unanimous decision from Jared Cannonier on July 2. Pereira, meanwhile, extended his winning streak to six bouts at the same event, as he wiped out former King of the Cage champion Sean Strickland with punches in less than three minutes. He bested Adesanya twice—once by decision and once by knockout—during their days on the professional kickboxing circuit.

As Adesanya and Pereira move toward their hotly anticipated showdown at 185 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

33: Years of age for Adesanya, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria, on July 22, 1989.

15: Adesanya wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 65% of his career total (23). His list of UFC victims: Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson and Rob Wilkinson. Adesanya holds eight other wins by decision (35%).

849: Significant strikes landed by Adesanya as a UFC middleweight, placing the City Kickboxing star third on the promotion’s all-time list at 185 pounds. Only Michael Bisping (1,384), the aforementioned Whittaker (958) and Brad Tavares (919) have connected with more.

7: Post-fight bonuses banked by Adesanya across his 13 appearances inside the Octagon. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” on five occasions and “Fight of the Night” twice, resulting in $350,000 of additional income.

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194: Combined victories between the 10 men—Cannonier, Costa, Brunson, Wilkinson, Tavares, Whittaker (twice), Marvin Vettori (twice), Yoel Romero, Kelvin Gastelum and Anderson Silva—Adesanya has defeated as a member of the UFC roster. They sport a cumulative .757 winning percentage at 194-62-1.

36: Years of age for Pereira, who was born on July 7, 1987 in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.

5: Pereira victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 83% of his career total (six). His list of UFC victims: Strickland and Andreas Michailidis. Pereira owns one other victory by decision (17%).

4: Takedowns surrendered by Pereira in his three UFC assignments. His opponents have been credited with 15 attempts against him, giving them a paltry 27% conversion rate.

3: Organizations for which Pereira has suited up as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 3-0 in the UFC, 1-0 in the Legacy Fighting Alliance and 2-1 in Jungle Fight.

.769: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Strickland, Michailidis and Bruno Silva—Pereira has defeated since he linked arms with the UFC in 2021. They boast a combined record of 60-18.