5 reasons why the UFC should make Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira if both men win this weekend
This weekend at UFC 276, reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defends his title against top contender Jared Cannonier.
Ready to write another name ✍️
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If Israel Adesanya wins at UFC 276 this weekend, could fellow former kickboxing ace Alex Pereira be next for him, assuming he beats Sean Strickland?
While ‘Poatan’ is not currently ranked in the middleweight division’s top ten, it’s safe to say that the Brazilian could well be the next viable challenger for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
Here are five reasons why the UFC should make Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira if both men win this weekend.
#5. Israel Adesanya has already beaten most of his other viable challengers
Ever since he dethroned Robert Whittaker to claim the UFC middleweight title back in October 2019, Israel Adesanya has been largely dominant over the promotion’s 185lbs division.
If ‘The Last Stylebender’ can overcome Jared Cannonier this weekend, something he’s highly favored to do, then he will have reached a total of five successful defenses in just under three years, a phenomenal output by anyone’s standards.
However, a win over ‘The Killa Gorilla’ would also mean that for the most part, Adesanya will have cleaned out the top of the middleweight division.
In terms of the upper echelon, he’s already beaten No.1-ranked Robert Whittaker twice, No.3-ranked Marvin Vettori, No.5-ranked Derek Brunson and No.6-ranked Paulo Costa. Essentially, there’s nobody left at the top for him, aside from one fighter - No.4-ranked Sean Strickland.
Strickland faces Alex Pereira this weekend, and if he can win the fight, then it’d be hard to deny ‘Tarzan’ a shot at Adesanya. However, if ‘Poatan’ can come out on top, then surely he’d jump right into Strickland’s current spot – and become the only viable challenger left for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
#4. Alex Pereira will have beaten a proven fighter on a phenomenal run
Given he’s only got two fights inside the octagon to his name, and neither came over a top-five ranked middleweight, it would be hard at the current moment to justify giving Alex Pereira a shot at the UFC’s 185lbs kingpin Israel Adesanya.
However, ‘Poatan’ has been mightily impressive thus far into his UFC tenure, defeating his first two opponents with ease. This weekend sees him make a huge step up when he fights top five ranked Sean Strickland, and if he can win, it’d be hard not to consider him an elite-level fighter.
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After all, ‘Tarzan’ might not be the most popular fighter on the roster, but he’s battle-hardened and has been on a tremendous run as of late. Currently riding a winning streak of six fights, his last two wins came over Jack Hermansson and Uriah Hall.
Given that Strickland has never been beaten at 185lbs, then, if Pereira can defeat him this weekend – particularly if he can finish him off with a knockout – then it’d be hard not to buy ‘Poatan’ as a genuinely elite-level middleweight.
That, in turn, should almost certainly open the door for him to take a shot at Adesanya, particularly as ‘The Last Stylebender’ already holds wins over the other fighters above him.
#3. Nobody else is on a truly excellent run right now
If there is a highly ranked yet unheralded fighter waiting for his shot at Israel Adesanya right now, then perhaps it’d be unfair to elevate Alex Pereira directly into a title shot if he beats Sean Strickland this weekend.
After all, even though he’d have a win over a top-five ranked opponent, Pereira would only have made three visits to the octagon, putting together an overall record of 6-1.
However, luckily for ‘Poatan’, there is no such fighter waiting in the wings. As we’ve already discussed, outside of Strickland, all of the other top middleweights in the UFC have fallen to Adesanya in the past.
Outside of those fighters, the likes of Darren Till and Jack Hermansson would make for fresh opponents for ‘The Last Stylebender’, but they haven’t won enough fights recently and simply aren’t viable options right now.
So, given the existing history between the Brazilian and Adesanya, if he can beat Strickland at the weekend then nobody could claim the UFC were playing favorites by handing Pereira an instant title shot, despite his lack of experience.
#2. Israel Adesanya will probably want the fight and the UFC shouldn’t deny him
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of UFC champions who, once they were established titleholders, made it their aim to avenge previous losses that they suffered earlier in their careers.
Chuck Liddell, for instance, defended his light heavyweight title against the first man to beat him – Jeremy Horn – in his very first fight as champion.
Elsewhere, Anderson Silva avenged an earlier loss to Yushin Okami during his middleweight title reign, while Stipe Miocic defeated Junior Dos Santos, and so on.
Given that he’s only ever lost once in MMA – to Jan Blachowicz in his failed attempt to win the UFC light heavyweight title – Israel Adesanya doesn’t exactly have much vengeance to enact right now.
However, he was beaten in the kickboxing ring, and his most notable losses came to a certain Alex Pereira. ‘Poatan’ defeated ‘The Last Stylebender’ twice, including handing him his only ever loss via knockout in a 2017 bout.
With that considered, Adesanya is probably itching to avenge those defeats inside the octagon, and if that’s what he wants next, the UFC ought to give him the opportunity.
Unlike other champions, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been the consummate company man since winning his title, and has quickly become one of the promotion’s biggest stars. Therefore, it only seems right that the UFC allow him to fight an opponent of his choosing – particularly if it’s Pereira.
#1. There’s a ready-made storyline between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira
When Anderson Silva claimed the UFC middleweight title in 2006, despite his ridiculous fighting skills, it took him a long time to really catch on as a superstar with the fans. In fact, it could be argued that he didn’t really take off until his infamous feud with Chael Sonnen in 2010.
While Israel Adesanya isn’t quite in the same realm as the one Silva once occupied – he is considered a big star by most fans – it’s probably fair to say that he’s still got a way to go to rise into the stratosphere that the likes of Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar called home.
It could be argued that part of this has been due to the fact that Adesanya hasn’t had a really epic rivalry yet. Sure, he’s fought Robert Whittaker twice, but there was no bad blood there, and both fights saw Adesanya win handily.
Paulo Costa, meanwhile, gave him a war of words of sorts, but when it came to fight time, he was too easily dispatched by ‘The Last Stylebender’ to provide him with a true nemesis.
That’s why it’d be an excellent idea for the UFC to book Adesanya against Alex Pereira if both men win this weekend.
There’s a ready-made storyline – as well as plenty of bad blood – between the two men due to Pereira’s wins over ‘The Last Stylebender’ in the world of kickboxing. More to the point, Pereira’s striking skills mean that he’d be considered a genuine threat to Adesanya in his best area.
Overall, assuming both men win at UFC 276, there are simply too many reasons to make this fight for it to go overlooked. It could well prove to be pivotal to Adesanya’s career – and could be pivotal for the UFC in terms of how big of a star he could become, too.