But now there is a chance to take revenge
On November 12, UFC champion Israel Adesanya (23-1) will defend the title in an extremely important fight. His opponent will be Alex Pereira (6-1), who has beaten Israel twice before. True, according to completely different rules.
The confrontation will continue and will be just as interesting, given the new conditions and who Adesanya has become over the years.
Israel Adesanya is without exaggeration one of the main UFC fighters at the moment and one of the most popular mixed martial arts fighters in Ukraine. He is loved for his bright appearance and interesting fights, although the latter has not been very good lately.
The African came to mixed martial arts from kickboxing. There, Israel lit up even more than in the UFC: he brightly knocked out opponents, created newsworthy events even between rounds, when he stood in the middle of the ring, waiting for an opponent, and did not go into the corner. But Adesanya also had the main problem in kickboxing – Alex Pereira.
The Brazilian is a legend of kickboxing tournaments. It was there that he gained fame and became a great athlete. Mixed martial arts has always been somewhat aloof. Pereira met Adesanya twice. For the first time in 2017 at the Glory of Heroes tournament. Don’t confuse it with Glory, one of the loudest kickboxing tournaments in the world. Then Israel suffered from the left side – the most formidable weapon in the arsenal of the Brazilian. Pereira lost the next fight to the Ukrainian Artur Kishenko, then returned with a victory, after which he again went to Israel.
This time the fight took place again within the framework of the Glory of Heroes tournament. Adesanya boxed well, but lost not by knockout, but by a decision of all judges in favor of Pereira. As often as Alex, no one beat the African champion.
Adesanya, by the way, also competed in mixed martial arts along the way, but did it more often than Pereira. If Alex mostly beat people without a fight, then Israel sometimes liked to twist his opponents thanks to the developing and evolving jiu-jitsu. However, in the end, both chose their own paths.
Alex became one of the main fighters of Glory – the very cool one. Israel moved to the UFC in 2018, where he fired up from the very first fights. The Brazilian boxed at the tournament before, but his unbeaten streak began in 2017 and ended only in 2021, when the judges gave the victory to the Russian Artem Vakhitov by split decisions in a rematch at the Glory 78 tournament. After that, the legendary Brazilian finally moved to the UFC. Mixed martial arts has again taken over the top striker.
The debut and continuation of Alex was a success. In the first fight, he knocked out Andreas Michalidis with a knee and finished everything with his hands. Then he outboxed Bruno Silva by decision. And he finished the campaign for the belt with a knockout of Sean Strickland in the first round.
The last fight is the most important for the Ukrainians. At the beginning of the war, the American said that Ukraine would not be able to cope, and she needed to “kneel before Russia.” And after a few months, he himself was lying around after Pereira’s blows. Communication is weak, but nice all the same. In addition, the knockout turned out to be just gorgeous.
Adesanya lost a little in fan love. From the guy who said “I’m ready to die” against Kelvin Gastelum, Israel has become a fighter who takes his skill and acts extremely carefully. At the same time, if a knockout comes, the African takes it – Whittaker also suffered in the first fight, and Paulo Costa fell very brightly. But if it does not come, Israel does not force lately.
At the same time, Adesanya showed a really cool confrontation against Jan Blachowicz. The giant Polish machine came out to crush the opponent, but Israel looked great purely on the impact. I just didn’t pull physically and in the fight. Although Blachowicz didn’t do anything special to him.
Guys approach the fight at the right age, fitness and time. Israel is 33, Alex is 35. The first is a super-technical champion who breaks everyone thanks to his skill, he can fight, but does not rely on it. The second is an elite striker with great skills and the main blow – the left hook, with which he once brought down Adesanya hard. Confrontation is for punching fans, not mixed martial arts wrestling.
If you look at the quotes of the bookmakers, they believe in the champion more. You can bet on Adesanya for 1.66. On his counterpart – for 2.30. Also, bookmakers are more confident that the meeting will take place more than three rounds – this is a factor of 1.65. On the opposite result – 2.11.
All perfectly reasonable, given the circumstances. First and foremost is the fight according to the rules of mixed martial arts. It doesn’t change much, but it still affects the odds. Adesanya has been boxing in the UFC for a long time and with confidence. It is not easy to throw it, it is not easy to fix it, it is not easy to attack from above. Even the giant Blachowicz didn’t do much.
Pereira is not a fighter at all. Yet not all Brazilians receive the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gene at birth. So everything will have to be decided in the rack. It is good that in general Israel also likes this method of resolving issues.
Who is more dangerous in it? It may seem like Alex, but that was in kickboxing, where there is no danger of fighting. In mixed martial arts, everything changes – both the style of the fight and the strategy. On the one hand, flying in cue balls can be even stronger than with gloves. On the other hand, Adesanya can hit just as well. Israel is fast, versatile, strong and has a knockout punch. Anyone can land, and Pereira too.
This confrontation is one of the most intriguing and at the same time dynamic for Adesanya in recent years. Finally, an opponent who can really compete with him in striking and even give a better duel in this component.
The main UFC 281 fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira will take place in New York on the night of November 13-14. The fight will tentatively start at 07:00 Kyiv time. The fight will be broadcast live on Setanta Sports.
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