UFC 287: Adesanya VS Pereira 2 Preview
I am getting really tired of these “hole in my stomach” feelings heading into these UFC fights and I can only hope that Kamaru Usman was the worst of it.
Israel Adesanya is my final hope.
At one time 3 African fighters held championships in the UFC, and now none do. Adesanya’s UFC 287 rematch represents the last hope to restore some glory to the continent, and it couldn’t be against a worse opponent.
For all intents and purposes, Alex Pereira is a beast. Every time I see him, he reminds me of Tong-Po, from the Jan Claude Van Damme movies because he is an absolute villain and a beast of a fighter.
However, the fact that he’s a beast, is exactly the problem.
Several people within MMA, as well as anyone with eyes in their head, knows that Alex Pereira is not a natural middleweight.
The reality is that, for the 3rd time Adesanya is being matched up with a guy that’s the size of a light heavyweight, and that’s what the UFC has resorted to in order to find some way to displace arguably the greatest middleweight of all time.
What this brings in to question, is how much should a fighter be allowed to cut weight.
As good a Pereira looks, I have him placed alongside Khamzat Chimaev in the category of weight bully fighters, who really should be competting in heavier weight divisions but are able to cut weight to be considered middleweight and welterweight respectively.
I have no interest in watching weight bully nonsense.
Take for instance, the boy, Jon Jones, I have mixed feelings about Jon Jones personally, but he did move up in weight to compete at heavy.
The issue with expecting everyone to do that, is that, gianing weight or moving up, takes longer than losing weight or cutting weight. It’s an issue others have pondered and Chael Sonnen has gone as far as to call it sanctioned cheating, when a fighter is cutting too much weight and essentially giving themselves an edge provided they can maintain a certain level of strength and conditioning.
And to add another layer, there is the actual history between Adesanya and Pereira, a history that spans almost 10 years in 2 different combat disciplines.
The stat that obviously haunts the Adesanya fans, like myself, going in to this one is the fact that Adesanya is 0-3 against Pereira throughout thier pro careers in Kickboxing and MMA.
That’s the issue here. Alex Pereira takes away, or at the very least evens out the advantage Izzy usually has in in the stand-up game.
Jorge Masvidal was on the Joe Rogan podcast, and he noted Pereira’s size and how that serves to also negates the takedown option as far as Izzy is concerned. In the same interview, Jorge Masvidal also talks about the difference in speed and power when you are moving up in weight.
Personally, I have a bunch of issues with this.
Alex Pereira has a 7-1 record in MMA, and I honestly think his road to a championship opportunity was shortnened by the fact that Izzy was the champ in his division and he beat him in Kickboxing.
Pereira has not beaten any of the other top middleweights in the division and while I think that has more to do with match making and the UFC maintaining fan interest by ensuring new fights in the event of a Pereira victory, it’s a shortcut for sure.
The stats from thier first encounter at UFC 281 paint a slightly more rosy picture, and show Izzy winning the 2nd, 3rd round and 4th rounds after and even first round, before Pereira pulls off one of the great 5th round come backs in UFC history.
Adesanya, during his press conference on Wednesday, showed full awareness of how he needed to keep the pressure in in every round, and also fully aware that this is probably his last title shot for a long time.
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