City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman reveals that UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya had to change his approach when rematching Alex Pereira.
Adesanya was able to reclaim his title from Pereira at UFC 287 when he knocked him out in Round 2. After losing to Pereira three times – twice in kickboxing and once in MMA – “The Last Stylebender” finally exacted his revenge.
Speaking to Combat TV, Bareman said Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) had to switch up the game plan when going up against a caliber of striker like former two-division Glory Kickboxing champ Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
“Basically we needed Israel to be more aggressive,” Bareman said. “We needed him to lead more. We needed him to be better in the mid-range, where he used to be a master of, but he hasn’t needed to be a master of because he can just beat guys on the outside where they can’t touch him.
“You can’t do that against a high-level kickboxer anymore. This is high level. You’re fighting a guy that’s done standup his whole life. We had to bring back old things and bring them back onto the table and unlock them, and that’s what he did. He did a fantastic job.”
Adesanya now holds title wins over top five middleweights Pereira, Robert Whittaker, Marvin Vettori, Jared Cannonier, and Paulo Costa. He was dismissive of a trilogy with Pereira, who announced that he will be moving up to light heavyweight for his next fight.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
