Adesanya, who was knocked out by Pereira at UFC 281, will look to reclaim his middleweight title from “Poatan” when the pair run things back in Saturday’s UFC 287 headliner at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) was able to rock and almost finish Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at the end of Round 1 in their UFC 281 title fight, but Pereira survived. Not only did he survive, but he rallied from being down 3-1 on the judges’ scorecards to finish Adesanya late in Round 5.
“Izzy could be winning the whole time, and you still wonder whether or not he will be able to get over the hump to get his hand raised because we’ve never seen it happen before,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” So, he’s gotta be able to stay locked in because at no point can he take his foot off the gas.
“At no point, can he let Pereira lead in the fight because when Pereira’s the aggressor, we have seen time and time again that that is where he can find those shots that can put Adesanya out. Pereira can take Adesanya’s shots. He can last, he can survive. Adesanya has not shown that ability.”
With the power that Pereira possesses, Cormier can see him ending the fight even earlier if he shows more aggression from the get go.
“You gotta think he’ll be even better,” Cormier said. “But he’s gotta be able to go forward earlier, make Adesanya react to him earlier, while not giving Adesanya too many counter opportunities because Adesanya is a tremendous counter striker. He’s gotta be a little careful in that regard, but he’s gotta get his foot on the gas a little sooner. He’s gotta make Adesanya react to him because that’s what he did.
“He got Izzy because he found a way to trap Izzy against the side of the octagon, and then he just unloaded. That’s how he won the championship. He’s gotta do that a little bit sooner and if he does, dude might find a way to get him out of there early because he has shown an ability to do it at some point. Could you imagine the fatigue he was feeling in Round 5, imagine if he gets those shots going in Round 1?”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
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