Jared Cannonier talks about the long-standing Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira rivalry
According to Jared Cannonier, it may be "written in the stars" that Israel Adesanya will never be able to overcome the threat of Alex Pereira, despite arguably getting the better of his rival for the majority of all three of their fights in combat sports.
'Poatan' captured the UFC title in one of the shortest times in the history of the promotion, having spent just 371 days since debuting to achieve his championship goal. Despite his lack of experience inside the cage, the Brazilian is a former two-division Glory kickboxing champion with almost a decade of experience.
Ahead of his fight this weekend, Jared Cannonier discussed the ongoing rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, insisting that fate may never allow 'The Last Stylebender' to beat the newly crowned middleweight champion:
"We see how it [the fight between Adesanya and Pereira] went the first time, right? It could be written in the stars that 'Izzy' may never beat him, you know. It could be written in the stars because I thought he was winning that fight and I think the same thing happened in their fight in kickboxing. He was scoring and winning, and he got caught... There's not much you can do to avoid that sort of thing. Just be a little bit sharper, a little bit better, more evasive maybe... How do I see the rematch going? I don't know, man, who knows how that rematch goes."
'The Killa Gorilla' takes on Sean Strickland in the final UFC event of the year on Saturday, and not only will the two be pushing to get back into the winner's column, but title implications could potentially be on the line also.
Watch the full interview below:
Israel Adesanya's hard luck against Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya is still regarded by many as the best striker in the UFC, but although he's incredibly skilled, he doesn't possess quite the same type of power as Alex Pereira.
The South American currently holds three wins over the Nigerian but was arguably putting in a losing effort in each of their fights before eventually getting his hands raised.
A unanimous decision win over Adesanya—which many believe should have gone the other way—was followed by a huge knockout in a matchup he was most certainly losing. Their third fight at UFC 281 saw a similar outcome happen as history repeated itself.