We got the news this past week that Israel Adesanya has his next title defense lined up – and it’ll be against what might best be described as his arch nemesis.
Middleweight champion Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) will put his title on the line in November at Madison Square Garden against Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who holds two kickboxing wins over him. They’ll headline UFC 281 in New York.
The fight still is three months out, but there will be plenty of buzz for it in the buildup. Pereira’s two wins over Adesanya came in a different discipline – but it’s still one that they both traffic in during their MMA fights.
Will the ruleset benefit Adesanya, who is coming off a dominant, albeit mostly uneventful win over Jared Cannonier? Will having 4-ounce gloves work out in Pereira’s favor, particularly after we saw what he just did to Sean Strickland?
What kind of early predictions do we have for the big title fight in the mecca of combat sports? That’s what we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Brian “Goze,” along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
Check out their reaction in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch the full episode in the video below.
