UFC 281: Joe Rogan praises Alex Pereira's archery skills; discusses his fight against Israel Adesanya
Joe Rogan has praised Alex Pereira's archery skills and discussed his upcoming fight against Israel Adesanya.
At UFC 281 on November 12th, UFC middleweight champion Adesanya will defend his title against Pereira.
In an edition of the JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) podcast, Joe Rogan spoke with his guest, UFC middleweight Joaquin Buckley, regarding 'Poatan's' impressive archery prowess.
: Alex PereiraTarget practice outside of the Octagon 😱🎯
As if this man could get any more scary 😅
📹: Alex Pereira https://t.co/lG1EMt7byR
Earlier this year, a video featuring Pereira using a bow and arrow to shoot a football piqued the interest of the MMA community. Revisiting the video, Rogan stated:
"It's pretty bada**. That's a recurve bow. That's a much harder bow to shoot than what I shoot. I shoot a compound bow. That takes real skill...That roar that he has is terrifying."
Watch the podcast episode below:
Joe Rogan alluded to the fact that Alex Pereira's scheduled five-round title matchup against Israel Adesanya could be the first time 'Poatan' goes the entire five rounds in his MMA career. The veteran UFC commentator insinuated that this could influence the outcome of the Adesanya-Pereira matchup. Further highlighting the hulking fighter's grueling weight cut, Rogan said:
"I'm very excited about this fight, man. I don't know what kind of preparation he [Pereira] has done in terms of getting himself lighter for a five-round fight and making sure that the cut is not as bad. I don't know. But he looks shredded. He certainly is losing a lot of weight to make that weight. But he's done it many, many times."
Watch Rogan discuss the topic at 5:15 in the video below:
Israel Adesanya on why he agreed to fight Alex Pereira at UFC 281
Alex Pereira holds a pair of victories over Israel Adesanya in the sport of kickboxing, having beaten him via unanimous decision in 2016 and via third-round KO in 2017. During an appearance on ESPN's First Take, Adesanya acknowledged his history in kickboxing with Pereira and revealed why he agreed to their MMA bout at UFC 281.
Israel Adesanya emphasized that since he's already beaten almost every top contender in the middleweight division, facing 'Poatan' was the only matchup that made sense. 'Izzy' opined that Pereira hasn't earned the title matchup the hard way. Nevertheless, Adesanya explained:
"But because I've already cleared the path by clearing out the middleweight division, there's really no one else for me to fight. And he jumped into MMA. We have that history in kickboxing. So yeah, you know, they set him up nicely and I like that because it's a big money fight."
Watch Adesanya's assessment below: