There was absolute scenes last night in Miami, Florida when Israel Adesanya starched Alex Pereira in the second round. Adesanya is only the third person in 49 professional fights between kickboxing and MMA to knockout Pereira.

It all but seemed like Pereira was on the brink of his first title defense when he was teeing off on Adesanya. Then Adesanya fired back with the biggest right hand of his entire career which rocked him badly and then the follow-up shots just knocked him out cold. It seems as if he played possum drawing him and then ended it.

Many of those who watched it live thought it was one of the greatest knockouts in the history of this sport. Not only because of how it happened but because of the context in which it happened. Adesanya was down 0-3 in three professional fights against Pereira, he just lost his world title against him, and then he baited him into the biggest right-hand you will ever see to reclaim his championship and spot on the top of the mountain.

Dana White has already come out and said a third installment between these two is not on the table for their next fight. So the question is what is next for the champion Israel Adesanya. We look at the potential matchups that could be ahead for him.

What's next for Israel Adesanya?

This is not a simple scenario just matching Adesanya against anyone in the middleweight division right now. He has beaten all of the top competitors and the no.1 contender in the division (Robert Whittaker) he has beaten already two times. Let's look at conventional and unconventional ways to match Adesanya up with his next opponent.

Robert Whittaker

This is probably the least attractive fight to the fans but Robert Whittaker is by far the most deserving. The only two losses in the last nine years of his career were against Israel Adesanya. In every other fight, he is 13-0 and has basically been untouchable.

There were rumblings around a potential fight between Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev but from the rumors, it may be Whittaker to get the immediate title shot. He possesses the only immediate threat to Adesanya's throne as it doesn't seem anyone else at middleweight is on his level.

Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev has a ton of hype surrounding him with his perfect undefeated record of 12-0. He hasn't fought at middleweight since his 17-second knockout of Gerald Meerschaert in 2020. Since then he terrorized the welterweight division but he missed weight egregiously in his last fight (9 lbs) which called for him to move back up.

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Israel Adesanya in the middle, Dustin Poirier, Sean O’Malley on the sides, the UFC logo behind them

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He has no wins over ranked opposition in the middleweight division but his current dominance in two weight classes has him skipping the line in most scenarios. If he doesn't get an immediate title shot, he can certainly get a no.1 contender fight against someone in the top five.

Dricus Du Plessis

This is one that is far out of left field but there is this budding rivalry between these two that makes for a good lead-up and fight. Adesanya didn't like some of the things that Du Plessis said in his interviews before and after his last fight so he is wanting to “whoop his ass” so the champ says.

Du Plessis has been riding the wave ever since coming to his debut and he is one the fast-rising stars of the middleweight division. He has this awkward style of fighting that just works for him and that has amassed him a perfect 5-0 record with four finishes. He could potentially be fast-tracked to a title shot much sooner rather than later if Adesanya has a say at all.