Israel Adesanya’s head coach believes that it is a simple decision to bring back the UFC 281 main show between Adesanya vs. the new champion Alex Pereira.
Adesanya had just minutes to beat his long-time opponent in combat sports in November, before Pereira scored a win in the fifth round and ended Adesanya’s lengthy reign. With still many questions unanswered — both in the Pereira-Adesanaya story, and Chimaev’s future at 185 pounds should the undefeated star go that route — Bareman is confident the rematch will be the bigger fight.
” I haven’t looked at the statistics on the previous fight but they are very, very impressive,” Bareman told Submission Radio regarding the UFC 281 main show. “I still believe that the UFC’s main event is the best in the middleweight division.
“Khamzat’s a rising star, but he’s done literally done nothing at middleweight. He has not established himself. You’re talking about two guys at the top of the food chain in terms of their status in combat sports. Khamzat is a rising star. He’s like a huge rising star. He’s far from the same level as these guys. It’s the most important fight. Khamzat still has to beat people at middleweight and work his way up to even fighting one of these guys. This fight is not possible unless politics and business take control of the sport. So, it’s still the biggest fight to make.”
Adesanya successfully defended the UFC middleweight title five times before losing it to Pereira — who improved to 3-0 in the rivalry, including two victories in the kickboxing world.
Pereira offered a bet to Chimaev, as well as former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub for a potential fight at UFC 283, but in a light heavyweight contest where each individual will put up at least $50,000 for charity based on the result, and Pereira’s ability to not be taken down quickly.
With the UFC 283 lineup pretty much locked with the addition of a Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill vacant light heavyweight title fight, Bareman believes all signs should point towards the Pereira vs. Adesanya championship rematch — despite what Pereira would want more.
” “At the end, it’s Alex’s decision,” Bareman stated. Alex will make the decision if he defends his title x number of times and performs well for the company. After that Alex can choose to accept it. We have a champion, who has done so much to help this company and who has defended his title many times. He should be able to rematch if he so desires.
” We are confident. You gotta understand, we were winning that fight relatively comfortably. We felt we were taking the rounds. It wasn’t comfortable. When you fight someone like this, whose gameplan it appears to be, it is not easy for a man to build his gameplan around the accumulation of damage. His gameplan revolves around mental wear and trying to hit one big shot. And he’s comfortable giving rounds and then not panicking, because he gives away rounds and it’s part of a bigger picture for him. Setting up what he ultimately is looking for. And with a few adjustments we can make some changes there and build on a lot of positive things that happened in that fight for us.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/12/13/23507187/israel-adesanyas-head-coach-khamzat-chimaev-rising-star-but-done-literally-done-nothing-middleweight?rand=96749
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