Alex Pereira has entered the UFC history books as the promotion’s ninth fighter to become a two-weight world champion, defeating Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO to claim the light heavyweight belt.

The former middleweight champion, whose UFC debut came at Madison Square Garden back in 2021, made his mark once more at the New York venue.

There was some controversy though surrounding the finish, with both Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan suggesting in commentary that referee Marc Goddard had called a premature finish.

Pereira though was firm that it was the right call post-fight, as was a classy Prochazka who insisted he would have always gone on but admitted to being “out” after being dropped by a brutal left hook.

“In the end I think it was right. I was out. But I will never stop… s*** happens. It doesn’t matter,” Prochazka said.

“No I’m not surprised,” Pereira said when asked about the stoppage post-fight.

“After the first left hook and then he took another one, I saw that he actually did not go to my legs. He fell down on my legs so I kept going to the finish. I don’t think it was a bad stop.”

Pereira later had a message for middleweight rival Israel Adesanya, challenging him to move up to the light heavyweight division.

“Hey Adesanya, come to daddy,” he said.

Next up though will likely be a fight against Jamahal Hill, who initially held the light heavyweight crown but had to relinquish it due to injury.

Going back to the fight itself, Pereira dropped Prochazka early in the first round with a hard leg kick and then had his rival stumbling again with another leg kick soon after. And another one. And another one.

The crafty Pereira kept catching Prochazka with leg kicks and finding success with them, limiting the Czech fighter’s movement.

Prochazka was able to score an early takedown heading into the final two minutes of the first round and landed a few big shots while working on the ground until Pereira got back onto his feet with 20 seconds left before the final bell.

Pereira stayed calm and conservative after the takedown, not panicking or leaving himself open to any real damage to help his chances of taking an even first round given his success with the leg kicks.

Pereira went right back to throwing in the leg kicks early in the second round too and once again was compromising Prochazka’s movement as a result.

Prochazka though exploded to life halfway through the round as he backed Pereira up to the fence, although the Brazilian was able to survive that exchange.

Just as it looked like Prochazka was heating up, Pereira suddenly dropped him – first rocking Prochazka with a right hand and then sending him to the canvas with a left hook.

Pereira followed it up with a series of punches and elbows to the head which saw referee Marc Goddard jump in and call an end to the fight.

“It felt a little fast, I’m not going to lie to you because Yuri got up pretty quick,” Cormier said.

“I’m not satisfied with that stoppage,” added Rogan, who admitted Prochazka looked “hurt” but was not convinced he was finished at that point.

In the end though only the man himself knew the real answer there and Prochazka said post-fight he was “out”, with Pereira getting the highlight finish to close what was an action-packed main card.

Read on for a full wrap of all the key moments from UFC 295!

EMOTION SPILLS OVER AS ASPINALL WINS WORLD TITLE

The United Kingdom has a new UFC champion.

In his first shot at UFC gold, Tom Aspinall made quick work of fellow heavyweight contender Sergei Pavlovich to claim a first-round knockout in just over one minute at UFC 295.

The heavyweight scrap was always expected to be over pretty fast given Pavlovich previously held the record for the longest UFC first-round knockout win streak (six) in the modern era.

Aspinall though had 12 first-round finishes of his own and now that number is 13, with the British fighter flooring his rival with a pair of brutal right hands.

“Tom Aspinall is the real deal,” Joe Rogan said in commentary.

“That right hand was nasty,” added Daniel Cormier.

Aspinall was visibly emotional after getting the finish and delivered an inspirational message post-fight.

“It’s been a crazy two-and-a-half weeks,” Aspinall told Rogan.

“Oh my God. I just want to say to everyone at home, listen — if you ever get the chance to do something and you’re scared to do it, you should definitely f***ing do it because there’s a chance it’s going to pay off.”

On Sunday, it paid off in a big way.

The pair were fighting for the heavyweight crown after the UFC was forced into a last-minute change with news champion Jon Jones had withdrawn from the main event due to a torn pectoral tendon.

AUSTRALIAN RISING STAR CONTINUES WINNING WAYS

Earlier, Australian Steve Erceg continued his rise up the UFC’s flyweight division, defeating a tricky Alessandro Costa to extend his MMA winning streak to 10 fights.

Erceg had five first-round finishes to his name before Sunday’s fight at UFC 295 but had his patience tested against the plucky Costa, who took the bout on short notice.

In the end, Erceg was crowned the winner by unanimous decision (29-28 x3), backing up his impressive upset win over David Dvorak back in June.

Erceg had the best moment of the opening round as a big right hand hurt Costa, with the Australian immediately looking to capitalise as he shot for the rear-naked choke.

“Look how smooth that spin to mount was… sensational… a work of art,” Joe Rogan said.

Costa was able to survive even as Erceg tried to take the back, although it was still the Australian who finished the round the better of the two heading into the second.

That started to change though as Costa got through with a few brutal right hands that had Erceg backing up before later scoring a takedown on his fourth attempt.

For the most part Erceg’s patience and composure in picking his moments to attack seemingly set him up well against the more aggressive Costa, who was having success but also had to be careful not to leave himself open to the counter-attack.

To his credit, Costa was able to do that well by maintaining the high arm guard he had in the first and it was causing problems for Erceg.

Costa’s aggression also saw him finish the second in emphatic fashion with a combination that hurt Erceg once more.

Costa’s aggression did eventually backfire though as he shot for an armbar late in the round and instead ended up on his back, with Erceg finishing the round on top in mount.

Still, for the most part, Costa had the better moments of the two in the second round, leaving the third and final round to decide who would have their arm raised.

There were no more fireworks though, with Erceg the ultimate professional as he controlled things well in the third while Costa likely came to rue a few missed opportunities.

UFC 295 ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know!

‘GUYS WHO DON’T WANT TO FIGHT’: Breakout Aussie star Steve Erceg fires up