Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira face off for the middleweight title bout for the main event of UFC 281 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. These two have fought twice during their kickboxing days so they two know each other well.
Israel Adesanya comes into this fight with a 23-1 record overall and he has won three fights in a row. On July 2nd he faced off against Jared Cannonier and he was able to win by unanimous decision. He outstruck Cannonier 116-90 and that was the difference in the victory. Each of his last three wins has been by unanimous decision. Adesanya is averaging 3.93 significant strikes per minute while giving up 2.67 significant strikes per minute. He wants to keep the fight on his feet and is stopping 78 percent of his opponent's takedown attempts. He is also averaging 0.2 submission attempts every 15 minutes.
On the other side of this fight is Alex Pereria who sits with a 6-1 record and he has made quite the move up the UFC rankings. Pereria’s last fight came against Sean Strickland on July 2nd and it was midway through the first round that he finished the fight by knockout. He outstruck Strickland 25-15. Pereria is averaging 6.29 significant strikes per minute He also wants to keep the fight on the feet and he is stopping 73 percent of his takedown attempts.
These are two exciting fighters, but neither guy wants to make the mistake and that is going to lead to a methodical fight. Pereira knows how to win rounds against Adesanya and he’s going to be able to point him. It isn’t going to be the most exciting fight but he’s going to wear down Adesanya in this fight. I expect this fight to go the distance, and Pereira is going to win this fight.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
Mitch's Take...
