UFC 287 LIVE: Adesanya knocks out Pereira – result

Third and final round. Calvillo is walking Godinez onto her jab repeatedly – great work.

Calvillo now feints some takedown attempts, as she did in Round 2. She’s also beating up the lead leg of Godinez with low kicks.

Final minute. Godinez grabs ahold of Calvillo, who neutralises her opponent’s takedown effort and drives her to the fence.

The final buzzer sounds, and we’ll go to the judges’ scorecards.

Some well-timed counter shots from Godinez, who also lands a teep kick to the body of Calvillo in Round 2.

Godinez blocks a high kick from Calvillo, who briefly considers a takedown but decides against it.

Again Calvillo sees a head kick blocked, and she’s tagged by a clean punch from Godinez late in the round.

We kick things off with a strawweight clash between Cynthia Calvillo vs Loopy Godinez!

Here’s a recap of the results from the early prelims:

Ignacio Bahamondes def. Trey Ogden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Steve Garcia def. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via second-round KO (body punch, 0:36)

Sam Hughes def. Jaqueline Amorim via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Our live coverage will begin with the regular prelims, which will get under way any minute now!

Don’t go anywhere!

Conor McGregor has teased an appearance with WWE, after the professional wrestling company announced that it is merging with the UFC.

During Wrestlemania (1-2 April), the most important weekend of the year for WWE, reports emerged that Endeavor – the parent company of the UFC – was in talks to purchase the pro wrestling brand. Those reports have since been confirmed by an official statement, released on Monday (3 April).

Ahead of the announcement, former dual-weight UFC champion McGregor tweeted on Sunday: “Congrats to the @ufc now worth a cool Proper $12bn. Wow!

“Endeavor [about] to scoop the @WWE now also. Incredible. What a powerhouse!”

The Irishman, 34, then shared a mock image of himself holding a UFC belt and the WWE title, adding: “#itsinevitable”.

More here:

Since Monday’s announcement that the UFC and WWE will be merging, questions have abounded. The biggest, undoubtedly, has been: What does it mean?

On one side, you have the preeminent promotion in mixed martial arts: the Ultimate Fighting Championship; on the other, the biggest professional wrestling brand around the globe: World Wrestling Entertainment. Except, there are no longer sides. With the UFC’s parent company Endeavor purchasing WWE, a merger will create a ‘$21billlion+ live sports and entertainment powerhouse’.

Those were the words of Vince McMahon, and a day after Wrestlemania – the biggest event of the year for WWE – the company’s executive chairman added: “Given the incredible work that Ari [Emanuel, Endeavor CEO] and Endeavor have done to grow the UFC brand – nearly doubling its revenue over the past seven years – and the immense success we’ve already had in partnering with their team on a number of ventures, I believe that this is without a doubt the best outcome for our shareholders and other stakeholders.”

Endeavor will hold a 51 percent controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE shareholders will hold a 49 percent interest. Emanuel and McMahon will retain their existing roles with Endeavor and WWE, with the former also serving as CEO of the new company and the latter working as executive chairman. Dana White will continue in his role as UFC president, and Nick Khan will remain president of WWE.

But that’s not what you really want to know. Here’s what you are interested in:

Speaking on The MMA Hour in November, days after his TKO loss to Pereira, Adesanya adressed suggestions that the stoppage came somewhat early.

“I don’t blame the referee, Marc [Goddard] did a good job,” Adesanya said, “but you see it when I get up: I’m fine.

“I was lucid. I didn’t get ‘rocked’ rocked; I got ‘hit’ hit against the fence and my thought was, ‘Escape, laterally, either left or right.’

“I went right and as I was going right. It wasn’t because I was rocked [that I fell partially], it was my foot [...] He hit me with two big shots, lateral move... and then I tripped.

“So, it looked bad,” the Nigerian-born New Zealander continued. “I think the referee was like: ‘Two big shots and he wobbles, oh, s***.’ It wasn’t from the shots, I promise you. There’s no reason for me to lie. It was from the legs, which [Pereira] caused, the damage.”

More here:

Jorge Masvidal and Kevin Holland were separated by security at a hotel in Miami on Wednesday, days before UFC 287.

Masvidal is set to fight Gilbert Burns in the co-main event of UFC 287 this evening, after Holland faces Santiago Ponzinibbio.

And security had to separate Masvidal and Burns on Wednesday (5 April), as the Americans traded barbs at the hotel in which fighters are staying this week.

The incident was captured by UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad, who posted footage of the exchange on his Instagram account.

Holland, 30, has lost his last two fights, suffering a TKO by Stephen Thompson in December and a submission by Khamzat Chimaev in September. Prior to his first-round loss to Chimaev, Holland was due to fight Daniel Rodriguez, but a series of incidents – including a backstage clash between Holland and Chimaev – led to the new bout.

Meanwhile, Masvidal was also previously involved in another backstage incident at a UFC event, when he punched Leon Edwards at London’s O2 Arena after beating Darren Till in 2019.

More here:

Here’s tonight’s card in full, subject to any late changes:

Main card

Alex Pereira (C) vs Israel Adesanya 2 (middleweight title)

Gilbert Burns vs Jorge Masvidal (welterweight)

Rob Font vs Adrian Yanez (bantamweight)

Kevin Holland vs Santiago Ponzinibbio (welterweight)

Raul Rosas Jr vs Christian Rodriguez (bantamweight)

Prelims

Chris Curtis vs Kelvin Gastelum (middleweight)

Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs Luana Pinheiro (women’s strawweight)

Gerald Meerschaert vs Joe Pyfer (middleweight)

Cynthia Calvillo vs Loopy Godinez (women’s strawweight)

Early prelims

Ignacio Bahamondes vs Trey Ogden (lightweight)

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs Steve Garcia (featherweight)

Jacqueline Amorim vs Sam Hughes (women’s strawweight)

UFC 287 will air live on BT Sport in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights.

In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.