"They're not the group I wanna hear from" - Chael Sonnen rejects Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo's credibility in picking Alex Pereira to defeat Israel Adesanya at UFC 281
Chael Sonnen disagrees with Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier over the upcoming matchup between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
In a recent video, 'The American Gangster' stated that Cormier and Cejudo were not the people whose opinion he was interested in as they both have wrestling backgrounds.
Sonnen wanted to hear from people like Henri Hooft, who, according to him, were more knowledgeable in the art of striking than 'DC' and Cejudo:
"Let me give you a quote from Daniel Cormier, first one I ever heard on this, 'If Pereira knocked out [Israel Adesanya] with the big gloves, Imagine the confidence Pereira's gonna have when they put on four-ounce gloves.'... Pereira's gonna beat him. Pereira's the better striker. He proved that the last time they fought when he knocked him out... When I hear experts in the know, they're not trained kickboxers. They're not the group I wanna hear from. "
You can watch the full video below:
Adesanya and Pereira are set to meet in the main event of UFC 281. The two middleweights have gone toe-to-toe against each other in the sport of kickboxing twice. On both occasions, 'Poatan' walked away with the victory.
The Brazilian is also the only person to score a knockout victory against 'The Last Stylebender'. At UFC 281, the rivals will clash for the first time in an MMA matchup. The real question is whether or not the result will change now that the two are in different sport.
Jared Cannonier weighs in on Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira
In a recent interview with Helen Yee, Jared Cannonier broke down the UFC 281 main event between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
According to 'The Killa Gorilla', Adesanya has an advantage over the Brazilian when it comes to experience in the sport of MMA. However, in terms of power, Cannonier believes Pereira has the upper edge.
"Well, it definitely favors [Israel Adesanya] more. He's been here longer. He's had all these five-round championship fights with the best in our sport... He definitely has the experience in that regard... Alex still has sort of a kickboxing base, his stance.... I think the advantage lies with Israel in that regard. The power lies with Alex, for sure. They're both the same size, you know, so Alex is gonna be a denser opponent."
Cannonier went up against Adesanya at UFC 276. 'The Last Stylebender' used his striking skills and distance management to cruise to a comfortable decision victory. The three judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45 in favor of the New Zealander.