Israel Adesanya UFC 281: all bets are off!
So, for the first time since I became an MMA fan, I watched Kamaru Usman lose. And I didn’t just see him lose. I saw him get knocked out cold. I was in disbelief. I stood there watching my television and wondering if it was just a dream. It was real. All my predictions (bullish as they always are) were thrown out of the window. Yes Kamaru dominated the fight. Yes kamaru had moments where he looked like he was breaking Leon. But like Kamaru Usman admitted after the defeat, Leon didn’t break. And it cost him the title and the p4p number 1 spot.
Ive seen that happen to Adesanya before. I watched him fight Jan Blachowicz and I thought it would be a golden stepping stone for him. I felt he would do what he always does. But then I watched him weigh in with extra weight and barely make 200pounds and I started to feel uneasy. He lost. He wasn’t knocked out. He wasn’t submitted. He wasn’t dominated for all five rounds. He managed to keep the first two rounds close; but he didn’t have a shout by the time the score cards were needed. And that was when it showed: Many people were waiting for Adesanya to lose.
"…he is the most sophisticated striker we have ever seen in the Octagon. He is Anderson Silva 2.0."
Joe Rogan describing Israel Adesanya
Maybe because his confidence looks more arrogant than Kobe and Jordan combined; maybe because he wears nail polish and acts gayfully coloured up just to get a reaction; maybe because he looks like he has the potential to continually chip at the middleweight greatness records of Anderson Silva; maybe because said some stuff about the twin towers, and his skin colour and his history with bullying. Maybe its all those things, but Israel Adesanya made a lot of fans happy when he lost. And the potential of him getting another left hook that puts him down against Alex Perreira is going to cause an additional hundred thousand pay-per-view buys. And that is a legitimate fear.
Except of course like me youre an Adesanya fan and you know something that many of the people who haven’t "watched the fights" don’t care to admit: Israel Adesanya is a better and more technical kickboxer than Alex Perreira.
It showed in their first fight. Watching it for the half-dozenth time and I am still unsure why the decision went Perreira’s way. Watching the second fight, it showed even more. Perreira basically did a ‘Leon’ to Adesanya. He was losing the fight. He was getting dominated. But he threw a haymaker… and it made hay. And that’s what this fight will come to.
Will Alex catch Adesanya because Adesanya is too afraid to fight his fight and take his lights out? Because that is the only way he wins. He is not outpointing Israel. He is not submitting Israel. But he can knock Israel Out.
"Did you watch the fights? Did any of you watch the fights? Go watch the fights."
Israel Adesanya snapping back at Reporters picking Alex over him
Israel on the other hand has the greatest MMAaura since Khabib. Somehow, when people stand in front of Israel, they seem unable to do what makes them good. Cannonier forgot to kick the legs; Whittaker forgot to mix it up on time; Vettori forgot to throw in strikes with his takedown attempts; even Blachowocz in his victory didn’t fight like he normally does. And we all know what happened to Costa and Romero. So will that happen to Alex. I think it will.
I think Alex will go into the Octagon with all the confidence in the world but as soon as Brice Buffer starts to do his thing, he is going to start coming up with a game-plan he didn’t practice. And when the fight starts, we’re going to wonder why he is not doing what he should be doing. My prediction: Adesanya wins this, by stoppage.
One thing is sure, for the first time in a long time, people want to see an Adesanya fight with the genuine excitement that he should lose. With the card that comes in front of it, it’s going to be fun.