Michael Bisping reveals his pick for Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2
Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping previewed the Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya UFC 287 main event title bout.
Pereira puts his belt on the line against the former titleholder in a rematch inside Miami-Dade Arena in Florida. Pereira came from behind to finish Adesanya in the UFC 281 main event in November to capture the title from his former kickboxing foe.
Pereira also holds two kickboxing wins over Adesanya, one by decision and one by knockout.
"One obviously thing to think about is Izzy's going to come out and use some grappling. He's got great hand-and-eye coordination. He's got tremendous coordination in general. We've seen the entrances. We've seen the breakdancing. We've seen the kickboxing skills. If you have that kind of coordination, you can learn how to do a double-leg takedown," said Bisping on his YouTube channel. "I used them to great effect many times. I never grew up being a wrestler."
Adesanya may opt to try to grapple with Pereira, but according to Pereira's coach, former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira, Pereira has improved his takedown defense since last fight.
"Accordring to Glover Teixeira, Pereira's coach, he said 'listen, if he tries to take Alex down he's going to have a problem. Alex is very, very hard to takedown and his submission game has gotten way better.' Maybe that's Glover just picking up his student or maybe that's true," said Bisping.
Bisping doesn't think Adesanya will try to grapple
"I don't really thing Izzy is going to do that (grapple). Izzy knows in the first fight he was landing better shots. He was the more technical kickboxer. He was the faster one, and he has a one inch longer reach," said Bisping.
"Kickboxing-wise, he's better, but the power of Pereira is the equalizer. Izzy got backed up to the fence in round 5. That's what he can't do," continued Bisping.
"The reason he got backed up to the fence in round 5 is because he was tired. The legs were getting burnt out the whole time and by round 5 he didn't have the ability to zig, zag, use the fast feet to get away from the fence. Rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, he was able to do that. Round 5 he couldn't and he got caught, so he's going to very, very aware of that."
For "The Count," Adesanya has to get Pereira moving backward. He has to put the champion on his back foot. Of course, that's what Pereira has to do as well.
"One of he best things you can do on a guy like Pereira, and aggressive striker, is to try and put him on the back foot. That's what Pereira's going to do as well," said Bisping. "It's all about Octagon Control and who can back that guy against the fence because make no mistake, if Pereira can back him up against the fence, well then he's going to have an absolute field day and we might just see him get the job done."
Bisping's Official Fight Pick
"I've gone back and forth. That's how close this fight is. It really is," said Bisping. "I thought to myself, Izzy looks like the better kickboxer. Izzy's the favorite coming into this one, so more than likely he's going to go out there and he's going to repeat what happened last time out but not get caught in the fifth round. He's going to be very aware of the octagon, of his surroundings. He's going to know where that fence is."
"But I don't think that's going to happen. I think Pereira's going to go out there oozing with confidence because I think that his takedown defense will have dramatically improved. I think his submission defense is going to be better. He's going to better all around," he continued.
"He's fitting into his mold as champion. He's feeling the money. Obviously coming into this one he gets a cut of the pay-per-view. He doesn't want this to be one and done. Granted the guy is 35-years old, but he's an absolute force of nature. He hits so hard and he's pushing himself to the limit. He's got all the right coaches around him.
"Basically want I'm saying is I believe that Alex Pereira gets the job done once again. Granted, it's not a very confident one."
