Alex Pereira looks bigger than the former light heavyweight challenger before his title fight against Israel Adesanya
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Alex Pereira
The Middleweight division needed some shaking up. It almost seemed like Israel Adesanya had cleaned the division up and was about to begin lapping people he had not before. In a bid to not let his title defenses be soured by lack of hard opposition, Adesanya faced hard-hitting Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.
The outcome was what anyone would’ve predicted – Adesanya was victorious, albeit only by outpointing Cannonier. However, that is all that he needed to do as he looked completely in control of the fight. After all, why must a predator shear its prey when it’s already dying?
The result was announced in favor of Adesanya, but the MMA community was very vocal about its displeasure with the way Adesanya chose to fight. “The Last Stylebender” showed none of the sophisticated strikings that brought him on a similar footing with legend Anderson Silva, which he used to spectacularly finish Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa.
Unsatiated fans took to Twitter to call for either Adesanya to mix up his striking and bring back the other-worldly striking that propelled the Nigerian to worldwide fame; or for some other challenger to make Adesanya sweat. Prior to UFC 276, that challenger was increasingly being seen in Sean Strickland, before Alex “Poatan” Pereira finished him.
Related- “Why did you BLAME me?” Israel Adesanya talks candidly about the LOWEST POINT in his MMA career
Will Alex Pereira’s size play a part in the title fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 281?
Alex Pereira is a big guy – no doubt about it. In a recent picture with Light Heavyweight fighter Dominick Reyes, Pereira easily looked the bigger guy of the two. Part of Pereira’s TKO win over Sean Strickland came because of the reach of his long jab, which rocked Strickland. Credit to Strickland though, not many would have stood up after eating two big shots and falling each time.
Alex Pereira vs Israel Adesanya deserves a fitting trilogy. The pair have fought twice before, in kickboxing fights – Pereira trumping his Nigerian opponent both times; once with a knockout that put Adesanya hard on his back. Since, however, Adesanya has won the UFC Middleweight belt, defended it four times, and lost only once (at light heavyweight.)
In a picture posted to Pereira’s Instagram story, the Brazilian can be seen weighing in at a frankly insane 226 lb. two-and-a-half months before the fight. Even more astounding, he is currently at 9.8% body fat. What the two figures point out is that 225 lbs is probably Pereira’s walking weight, which means that the Brazilian will cut 40 lbs for his 185 lbs Middleweight bout.
After the weigh-ins (which traditionally take place on a Thursday), Pereira will have a day and a half to rehydrate and feed his shrunken musculature. As we have seen before, what a fighter looks like weighing in, isn’t necessarily how they will look when they enter the cage. Compared to Israel Adesanya’s relatively easier weight cuts (he has a dramatically lower walking weight), Pereira has all the work cut out for him, and maybe, all the advantages as well. That is to say that Pereira possesses a much larger frame that can be used to his advantage.
The two men have met before – can Israel Adesanya redefine how his most intense rivalry has been written till now? We have 74 days to find out!
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Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)