Israel Adesanya predicts how Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway would go down, picks his winner for the fight
Israel Adesanya recently discussed how he feels the Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway matchup would play out. In addition, Adesanya shared his prediction for the fight.
We are only days away from the highly anticipated featherweight title clash between Topuria and Holloway at UFC 308. The pay-per-view event will take place this Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
In a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Adesanya dissected the Topuria vs. Holloway title fight which will headline UFC 308. The former middleweight champion believes that the Spaniard must dominate Holloway in the early rounds to win the fight. He said:
''Ilia [Topuria] is going to probably like late round one start to open up a little bit more but first half of the first round he's just going to get reads. But while you're getting reads, Max [Holloway] is going to be lighting him up if he's not minding his p's and q's he's going to get lit up. F**k, I just feel like if Ilia is going to win, it's going to be early...so I'm trying to visualize Max being dropped and I can't see it like being knocked out I can't see it.''
Adesanya then backed Holloway to win against Topuria, saying:
''I'm going to go Max Holloway because I feel with his depth of work, the bodies he's encountered in the octagon, the experience, the octagon time he has...I think when it comes to round four and five, that's where he's going to thrive.''
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below (12:21):
Topuria is coming into the fight with a vicious knockout win against Adesanya's friend Alexander Volkanovksi at UFC 298, which earned him the featherweight gold. Meanwhile, Holloway became the BMF champion after knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
As for Adesanya, he suffered a fourth-round submission loss against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305.
Israel Adesanya backs Robert Whittaker to win against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308
Before sharing his prediction for the Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway title fight, Israel Adesanya gave his opinion on the middleweight contest between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, who are vying for the potential No. 1 contender spot in the co-main event of UFC 308.
In his aforementioned YouTube video, Adesanya asserted that Whittaker will prevail late in the fourth round, saying:
''I just think Rob [Whittaker] is a guy not to be fu**ed with. Look at his last fight, hopefully, people will remember who he is now. I think Rob will do it again, definitely not as early, I don’t think so. I just think he’ll catch him [Chimaev] later on. But he has to weather the storm, he has to survive until he can’t…I’m gonna go Rob with this one with the late finish. Round 4.” [8:44]