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At UFC 281 in New York, Alex Pereira submitted Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title.
In the fifth round, the 35-year-old sensationally stopped Adesanya with a barrage of blows, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
In just his fourth UFC match and eighth in mixed martial arts, the Brazilian won the belt that Adesanya had held since 2019.
“I’ve trained my whole life for this. I’ve worked so hard,” Pereira said.
Zhang Weili defeated Carla Esparza in the co-main event to win the strawweight title.
Before strangling Esparza with a rear-naked choke in the second round, Weili controlled the pace of the fight.
Erin Blanchfield dominated Molly McCann of the United Kingdom in the opening round of their flyweight match.
Pereira shocked the Madison Square Garden crowd by winning with two minutes remaining in the final round.
Adesanya was on track to defend his title when Pereira rocked him with a right hand, breaking his record of six straight title defenses.
Pereira rushed and landed powerful blows after sensing Adesanya was in jeopardy, prompting referee Marc Goddard to intervene and stop the fight.
Nigerian-born Adesanya, who is based in New Zealand, was not pleased with the decision to stop the fight, and Pereira held up a “3-0 sign” to represent his two kickboxing victories over the 33-year-old prior to the pair’s joining the UFC.