Israel Adesanya Predicts Someone Is Going to Get Knocked Out After UFC Announces His Fight Against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 on MSG Card

Hate him or love him, Israel Adesanya is one of the busiest champions in UFC at the moment. He has already defended his middleweight title twice in 2022 against Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier. And Izzy is not done for the year.

Israel Adesanya will return to the octagon for a long-awaited fight against Alex Pereira, who still remains the only fighter to knockout Adesanya. The title fight will take place at UFC 281 on the MSG card.

Earlier this week, UFC announced a lightweight fight between Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler for UFC 281. And now the addition of Adesanya vs Pereira has certainly made UFC 281 a must-watch PPV.

Israel Adesanya Predicts a knockout against Alex Pereira at UFC 281

Alex Pereira is 2-0 against Israel Adesanya in kickboxing matches. In the first fight, Pereira was able to win on the judges’ scorecard. But, in the rematch, he knocked out Adesanya with a vicious left hook.

But, Israel Adesanya does not believe that Alex Pereira will be able to duplicate the result inside the UFC octagon. In a recent interview with ESPN, Adesanya explained that his fighting style in MMA is very different from kickboxing. He also stated that the size of the glove difference will affect Alex Pereira’s striking defense.

Many fans believe that Alex Pereira is the toughest challenge for Israel Adesanya in the division. And Adesanay gladly accepted the fight with him. Explaining the reason behind choosing to defend his title against Pereira, The Stylebender stated:

“I am really excited to have someone finally who after the first round or second round they realize they can’t do s**t and just wanna be defensive. I am excited to have someone who is going to attack me, who is going to try to finish me.”

Israel Adesanya’s last three title defenses were not too exciting. The fight fans blamed Adesanay for the lackluster main events. But, it was also his opponent’s responsibility to take the fight to the champion and try to win the fight.

And Adesanya is confident that Pereira will try to get a finish at UFC 281. Predicting the outcome of the fight, Adesanya said:

“This is the story of this fight. Because he has done it before in the past in kickboxing. So for me it’s like, is he going to get knocked out or am I going to get knocked out”

Who do you think will win this matchup at UFC 281?