Israel Adesanya will try to reclaim the UFC middleweight title against champion Alex Pereira at UFC 287. The bitter rivals’ feud carried over into the UFC from their kickboxing days in Glory. In those matches, Alex Pereira is 2-0 against Izzy. Though both fights were close, “Poatan” finished Adesanya in the 2nd fight, leaving no doubts about the winner of that one.
And as we all know, how Alex knocked out the Last Stylebender at UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden. And Poatan did so by mirroring their second kickboxing fight and finishing Izzy after being behind for most of the fight. But former UFC P4P #1 fighter, Alexander Volkanovski seems to think that Adesanya has a trick up his sleeve that will prove instrumental in defeating Poatan in their 4th encounter.
Throughout the video, Volkanvski alluded to a new and improved game plan from Izzy and the City Kickboxing team. Volkanovski said, “Obviously you know where my bet’s going. I think he [Adesanya] can get the finish too and I think he does get the finish. I don’t think we’re seeing the later rounds. I’m calling third-round finish.”
The UFC featherweight champion continued, “I can’t obviously give too much away. I obviously wanna break it [the tactics] down and go more into it… But the beauty of it is, we get to see it live.” And knowing the excellent work of Eugene Bareman and the City Kickboxing team firsthand, Alexander “The Great” certainly is not bluffing. It seems Israel Adesanya and his team have finally figured out the puzzle of Alex Pereira ahead of UFC 287.
Can Israel Adesanya get the finish against Alex Pereira at UFC 287?
In his early days in the UFC, Israel Adesanya was quite an exciting fighter. His knockout of Derek Brunson really put the middleweight division on notice. And after he won the UFC middleweight title by knocking out “The Reaper”, Robert Whittaker, everyone learned that despite his skinny frame, Adesanya’s power and precision were a problem.
After he successfully made his first title defense, Adesanya then went on to face Paulo Costa, completely negating “Borrachinha” on the feet and finishing him in the second round.
That victory proved Izzy to be one of the most dangerous strikers in combat sports, not just the UFC. However, fans’ memories are short, and a few “boring” title defenses later, everyone forgot about Izzy’s finishing ability. Nevertheless, they and “Poatan” himself, were reminded of this aspect of Adesanya’s game at UFC 281.
In the final seconds of the first round, Israel almost knocked Pereira out with a few punches. Only the bell and referee Marc Goddard saved Alex from losing his first UFC fight. Meaning, Adesanya has shown that he can get the finish against Alex Pereira. However, this is still easier said than done.
“Poatan”, despite the massive amount of weight he cuts, still carries an amazing chin. His ability to take shots from Adesanya and still come back to finish the fight was on display in their second and third encounters. If Adesanya wants to reclaim his championship, he will need to put away Pereira definitively as he did with Whittaker, Brunson, and Costa. Much easier said than done