UFC Hall-of-Famer reveals Israel Adesanya’s key to victory against Alex Pereira at UFC 287
The world will be watching as Israel Adesanya looks to gain some form of revenge on long-term rival Alex Pereira after losing each of the three encounters they've had in combat sports. Despite that, a UFC Hall-of-Famer believes the former champion has a clear path to victory.
'Stylebender' reigned in dominance over the middleweight division for years prior to his Brazilian counterpart making the jump over to the UFC. Excluding a loss to Jan Blachowicz during his attempt at light heavyweight gold, the defeat to 'Poatan' saw the fan-favorite's three-year span as the 185lb king come to an end.
While discussing the highly-anticipated clash, UFC legend Bas Rutten insisted that if Israel Adesanya doesn't look for the knockout, he could find success on the feet against the explosive Alex Pereira.
"I wouldn't even try to go for a knockout, why would you? If it comes, it probably will automatically happen then in this particular case, but I think a guy like Pereira, you have to be in and out the whole time. Every time when he lets go of the clinch, there was that left hook and in the beginning, it missed, I go, 'Oh man. If he connects, the fight's over.'
"It's an incredibly hard hook and his cross is really nice as well. So, he just has to use in-and-out movement the whole time... Maybe it's just a decision victory and if something comes, something comes but don't focus on it."
Rutten has had an extensive career in the sport with over 30 fights under his belt. Despite spending most of his time outside of the UFC, the Dutchman did compete twice inside the octagon, beating both Tsuyoshi Kosaka and the late great Kevin Randleman in the late 90s.
Check out what the legendary powerhouse had to say about the forthcoming middleweight title clash in the video below.
for Israel Adesanya at #UFC287! 
: youtu.be/xFfXKJXYJSs.@basruttenmma says in and out movement is 🔑 for Israel Adesanya at #UFC287!
“I wouldn’t even try to go for a knockout.”
🎥: youtu.be/xFfXKJXYJSs https://t.co/GUkBgaOhWl
Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira: How did their first UFC fight play out?
As Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira approach their octagon rematch, we take a look at how their first outing looked.
Despite rocking the South American late in the first round, the Nigerian was mostly successful from range, picking apart his opponent and cruising to a decision victory before the late TKO loss.
Adesanya implemented some of his offensive grappling which had some success and can arguably be expected next time out. But it remains to be seen how the challenger will deal with Pereira's devastating power yet again.