Aljamain Sterling discusses the reality of Alex Pereira's 'puncher's chance' against Israel Adesanya at UFC 281
Aljamain Sterling recently gave his take on the upcoming middleweight clash between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
Adesanya is all set to face long-time rival Alex Pereira at the main event of UFC 281 with his middleweight title on the line. The event is scheduled for November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This will be the middleweight king's sixth title defense, where he will attempt to avenge his two losses against 'Poatan' from their kickboxing days.
In the latest edition of The Weekly Scraps, UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling weighed in on the upcoming middleweight showdown between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. While 'The Funk Master' praised Pereira's fighting prowess, he predicted that Adesanya's awareness and meticulousness would pose a challenge to the Brazilian.
Giving his opinion on the main event of UFC 281, Sterling said:
"I just think he's [Alex Pereira] gonna be a little too slow for Adesanya but he's always going to have that great equalizer which is the knockout punch...I think he has a puncher's chance but Izzy [Israel Adesanya] should be able to see those punches coming from a mile away. I don't think he [Alex Pereira] is the fastest guy. I think Izzy's [Israel Adesanya] gonna have great awareness."
You can check out the full episode of The Weekly Scraps below:
Coach Eugene Bareman details on "extra pressure" his team has faced in preparation for Israel Adesanya and other CKB fighters' bouts ahead of UFC 281
Along with Israel Adesanya, City Kickboxing Gym will send out three more fighters in the upcoming UFC 281 fight event. The middleweight champ will be joined by Dan Hooker, Brad Riddell, and Carlos Ulberg on the fight card.
With four fighters to prepare, including one for the title defense, Team Bareman now has their hands full. However, the camp appears to be quite confident in their fighters' ability to emerge victorious.
The energy here is different.☄️
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Appearing on a recent edition of Submission Radio, coach Bareman detailed his team's preparedness for UFC 281:
"As coaches and as a team, we have felt the pressure, but we feel the pressure every time. What makes us good at what we do, and some would say amongst the best at what we do, is that we know how to turn that pressure into something else... There's been a lot of extra pressure that we've felt compared to other fight nights, but we've embraced it and used it."
Check out what coach Eugene Bareman had to say about the pressure for UFC 281 fight camp: