April’s UFC 287 now has a main event.
On Friday, UFC President Dana White appeared live on multiple social media platforms to announce fights attached to numerous upcoming events. While the bulk of White’s revelations had been previously reported, UFC 287 on April 8, 2023 now has a high-profile main event and co-feature.
Per White, the PPV card will be topped by new middleweight champ Alex Pereira running it back with ex-champ and rival Israel Adesanya. In the co-feature, Gilbert Burns will face Jorge Masvidal, a fight that has been brewing for the better part of a year.
White’s announcement takes Masvidal out of the running for the Conor McGregor sweepstakes, leaving Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler as the front-runners.
No location has been revealed for UFC 287, though Brooklyn, NY has been rumored for weeks.
The main event between Pereira (7-1) and Adesanya (23-2) will be an immediate rematch of a fight “The Last Stylebender” looked well on his way to winning last November, until Pereira stormed back in the fifth and final round. Brazil’s Pereira, who had two previous wins in kickboxing over Adesanya, became just the second man to defeat him in MMA, and the first to do so at middleweight.
Burns (21-5) is coming off a dominant win against Neil Magny at UFC 283 earlier this month. As for Masvidal (35-16), he hasn’t fought since losing to Colby Covington last March. Since then, he’s been embroiled in legal troubles after attacking Covington outside a Florida eatery a few weeks after their fight.
Kevin Holland (23-9, 1NC) versus Santiago Ponzinibbio (29-6) was also announced for the card by Dana White.
UFC 287 currently has the following match-ups reported for it:
- Alex Pereira (c) vs. Israel Adesanya — for the UFC middleweight championship
- Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
- Raul Rosas Jr vs. Christian Rodriquez
- Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joe Pyfer
- Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Steve Garcia
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Nikolas Motta
- Michelle Waterson vs. Luana Pinheiro
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez
