Israel Adesanya mercilessly taunted Alex Pereira's son after knocking his father unconscious at UFC 287
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- Israel Adesanya knocked out his career rival Alex Pereira during Saturday's UFC 287 event.
- The UFC middleweight champion then pointed at Pereira's child and taunted him.
- It was a reaction from when one of Pereira's kids appeared to mock Adesanya at a previous fight.
Israel Adesanya mercilessly taunted Alex Pereira's son after knocking his father unconscious Saturday at the UFC 287 event inside the Kaseya Center, in Miami.
It was the first victory Adesanya had scored against his career rival Pereira, after the Brazilian bested him twice in kickboxing bouts, and once in an MMA competition last year.
During one of Pereira's kickboxing wins in 2017 — a finish, via KO — one of his children appeared to mock Adesanya while he was unconscious.
Not one to forget things easily, Adesanya did the same after flattening Pereira in the main event of the sold-out pay-per-view show in Florida.
With Pereira's body stiff on the canvas, Adesanya pointed to the child before mimicking the way Pereira fell to the floor.
"I'm petty bro, I remember the first time he knocked me out in Brazil his son came into the ring and started to get next to me," Adesanya reportedly said. "I looked for his kid and I pointed at him and I saw him."
—Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) April 9, 2023
The win saw Adesanya reclaim the UFC middleweight championship he lost to Pereira in 2022, after six successful title fight wins in a row.
Elsewhere at UFC 287, Gilbert Burns out-pointed Jorge Masvidal, Rob Font finished Adrian Yanez, and Kevin Holland knocked out Santiago Ponzinibbio.
In the first fight on the main card, Christian Rodriguez put the brakes on the Raul Rosas Jr. hype train as he edged the 18-year-old phenom over three rounds.
Donald Trump was a surprise star at the show
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
One attendee to generate a significant reaction from the Miami crowd was Donald Trump, as the former president took to his seat and posed for photographs.
Trump recently pleaded not guilty to 34 charges relating to a 2016 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, yet got one of the biggest pops on the night with people ringside almost falling over themselves to shake his hand.
He sat alongside the former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, the singer Kid Rock, and his long-time friend UFC boss Dana White.
The popular YouTube creator Jidion, who has 6.84 million subscribers, even asked Trump for "a small loan of $1 million" — which Trump Jr. seemed to find funny.
White later told reporters backstage that Trump is a "huge fight fan."