Alex Pereira weighs in on rumored Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland matchup: “He has a chance”
Alex Pereira is weighing in on the rumored middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
Although yet to be confirmed by the UFC, Strickland could very well be on tap to challenge middleweight champion Adesanya at UFC 293 on Saturday, Sept. 9th in Sydney, Australia.
Speaking through an interpreter at UFC 291 media day yesterday, Alex Pereira gave his thoughts on a Strickland (27-5 MMA) vs Adesanya (23-2 MMA) fight:
“Fighting Israel Adesanya is always a hard fight, but he showed that he can be beaten. Sean Strickland, he has a chance. Different game plans are hard. But if anyone has a chance against Adesanya, that’ll be Sean Strickland. But it’s still a hard fight.”
Alex Pereira knows a thing or two about beating Adesanya as he did just that at UFC 281 when he KO’d the champion and took his title. It was to be at UFC 287 where ‘The Last Stylebender’ would take his revenge against ‘Poatan’, also via way of knockout, to reclaim the title.
When asked about Du Plesses’s chances against Adesanya, Pereira said (h/t MMAJunkie):
“Honestly, man, I don’t know if it’s maybe too much for Du Plessis because Adesanya’s way superior. Looking at this fight overall, it’s a fight that does not even make too much sense to me.”
Dricus Du Plessis (20-2 MMA) just recently defeated Robert Whittaker (24-7 MMA) by knockout at UFC 290, making him a contender for a shot at the middleweight title.
Concluding, Alex Pereira affirmed Sean Strickland has the best chance of dethroning Israel Adesanya:
“One hundred percent. One hundred percent. If Sean Strickland put in the work, he should (win that fight).”
It should be noted that Pereira is currently training with Strickland and therefore has a close-up perspective on his abilities.
Pereira (7-2 MMA) will be making his light heavyweight debut against former champion Jan Blachowicz (29-1 MMA) this coming Saturday night, July 29th, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Do you agree with Alex Pereira that Sean Strickland is the fighter who has the best chance of defeating Israel Adesanya?
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