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Israel Adesanya is keen to watch UFC 295 this weekend, as his old foe Alex Pereira aims for something he couldn’t do in 2021.
Pereira will be back at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, where he won the 185-pound title last November by stopping Adesanya in the last round.
Now, “Poatan” wants a different belt around his waist in New York City by beating Jiří Procházka for the empty light heavyweight title. Adesanya has faced Pereira four times in combat sports and lost his own chance at two-division fame less than three years ago, so he knows the Brazilian’s odds well. In a video he posted on his YouTube channel, Adesanya analyzed the big fights happening at MSG at UFC 295 this Saturday.
For the main event, “The Last Stylebender” admitted that Pereira surprised him by winning his light heavyweight debut against Jan Błachowicz this July in Salt Lake City. Pereira will try to show the Nigerian-New Zealander he was wrong again by being the first fighter to win titles at both middleweight and light heavyweight in the UFC.
"He did well, better than I expected (against Błachowicz)," Adesanya said. "These middleweights should get on their f*cking knees and thank me, because I got this man out of there. If not , you'd have to deal with him over and over again, all of you. I doubt any of you would wanna f*cking fight this guy.
"I like this fight because they're both very unorthodox in their approach, their fighting style. The way Pereira leg-kicks, the way Jiří likes to own the space and throw combos," Adesanya continued. "Pereira is a special human... He's got a special ability when it comes to putting people asleep... Alex has got the bomb. (Procházka) has to try and defuse the bomb. That's what makes it exciting. Regardless, I'm going Jiří Procházka... It doesn't go the distance."
That would make the Brazilian’s combat sports career even more impressive, which already has a Hall of Fame spot under the Glory Kickboxing banner.
But Adesanya still thinks Procházka will be too hard for “Poatan.