Israel Adesanya has been warned that Alex Pereira could be able to control their upcoming fight by using his significant size advantage.
'Style Bender' will defend his UFC middleweight title in a bout against former two-time rival Alex Pereira, which is set for UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden. Pereira will likely pose a stern test of Adesanya's champion credentials having beaten him twice during their kickboxing careers, by controversial decision back in 2016 before becoming the first man to knock out the Nigerian in the sequel a year later.
'Poatan' possesses a size advantage over his rival according to UFC light-heavyweight Anthony Smith, despite both men standing at six feet four inches and weighing 185lb. And Smith is expecting neither fighter to attempt takedowns during the trilogy fight, with a striking battle set to unfold.
"I was shocked at how big he is in real life, Alex Pereira is huge," Smith told UFC legend Michael Bisping on the latest episode of his BelieveYouMe podcast. He's drastically larger. I think Izzy is going to win most of the exchanges but Pereira can fight him on his terms.
"He's the only guy in the mixed martial arts world in that weight class that can fight Izzy on his terms and win. There's no threat of wrestling either. Neither one of these guys are shooting takedowns." Pereira has spoken with confidence that he can become the man to end Adesanya's reign having had previous success against the UFC superstar.
Adesanya has come into criticism for his recent performances having recorded shut-out wins over Jarod Cannonier and Marvin Vettori. However his Brazilian opponent believes he has a strategy to "hurt" Adesanya and bring him out of his comfort zone. "I can tell you that it will be impossible for him not to engage, if he’s within my reach I will hurt him," Pereira said when revealing his fight strategy to Brazilian MMA Fighters.
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"And five rounds he won’t make it, five rounds? And I come close, you can see in the fights that I come close, I have a very good defence. He will want to attack or counterattack, but I can hurt him with my defence too. I saw in his fights that he kicks a lot and the guys don’t have the right time, the right time to block, you can hurt him with a block.
"The guy kicked, you blocked, maybe he won’t kick anymore. He’s got a big weapon and I can sort of eliminate it early on, I’ll be close to him, if he doesn’t hit me he’ll get beaten, and if he hits me he’ll get as tired as me.“
