UFC 287: Alex Pereira more than just a heavy-handed brute, looking to finish rivalry with Israel Adesanya
The perception in some some corners as Alex Pereira heads into fourth bout with Israel Adesanya, which is also his first defense of the UFC middleweight title, is that he's a brute with generational power but who lacks the skills of the highly regarded challenger.
Pereira has listened, mostly patiently, as he's been asked about the way his power saved him in his last two fights against Adesanya. The first came in the third round in a Glory of Heroes 7 kickboxing match, and the second came on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York at UFC 281. Adesanya held a three rounds to one lead on all three judges' scorecards going into the fifth, but Pereira knocked Adesanya out in the final round to win again and claim the title.
He's up 3-0 in their series — he won his first fight with Adesanya at Glory of Heroes 1 by decision — and is looking to put an end to their rivalry with a victory on Saturday in Miami, Florida, in the main event of UFC 287.
Though he's a middleweight, he's got some of the heaviest hands in the UFC and physically looks more like a heavyweight than a 185-pounder.
He's relatively new to MMA — Saturday's bout is only his ninth MMA bout and just his fifth in the UFC — but he's not crazy about the perception that he's a one-dimensional knockout artist.
He snickered at the suggestion that Adesanya has dominated him throughout their three-fight series and that’s gotten lucky at the end of the last two to land a home-run shot to pull out the win.
He concedes Adesanya was up at UFC 281 but sloughed off a suggestion he was outclassed or in some way dominated.
“The problem comes down to this: A lot of people take for granted what some people who call themselves specialists put out there,” Pereira told Yahoo Sports. “It’s not like I got beaten so badly or was dominated [at UFC 281]. Look at the fight: I was winning the first round, but I got caught at the end with a good left hook. OK, he gets the round, but I won most of it. Was I dominated? Was I totally out-classed? No. The second round, I won. I took him down. The third round, I was winning the first half of the round and there was a scramble and I wound up on the bottom. The fourth round, OK, Izzy won.
“Now, the fifth round, was he dominating me [before the knockout?] Of course not. So this whole thing that’s out there, I don’t understand it. It was a good, hard and close fight between two good fighters.”
That power, though, is an undeniable weapon, and it forces all of his opponents, not just Adesanya, to walk a tightrope.
No matter how good things are going for his opponent, Pereira’s power keeps him in every fight.
Adesanya is a -135 favorite, meaning his implied win percentage is 55.1 percent. Pereira is a +115 underdog, making his implied win percentage 46.5 percent.
Pereira hardly seemed concerned about the odds against him, despite his three wins in as many tries. Adesanya sounds unusually confident for a guy in his situation, but Pereira doesn’t think he’ll fight much differently than he has before.
“There hasn’t been that much time [since our first UFC fight], so how does he possibly make these great changes?” Pereira asked. “I think that means he’s telling himself to fight the same way as before, just a little better.”
Adesanya oozed with confidence at Wednesday’s media day. He wasn’t revealing much, but said the series has set this up for a storybook finish for him.
He knows the challenge he faces
“I’m down two fights in kickboxing, one fight in MMA,” Adesanya said. “I’m down three. This is in every movie, that one shot. This is my Eminem moment, my ‘8-Mile’ moment. ‘You get one shot. Do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.’ This is it for me.
“Imagine if I get it done. Imagine if I butchered him and beat the f*** out of him. I always do. I put him on his back, we’ll find out I do all this s*** and I beat his ass. Do some damage to him. Something amazing. Like I said, I don’t keep score. I settle it.”
Pereira insisted he has great respect for Adesanya’s abilities, even as he’s taunted him during camp with jibes on social media and in his interviews promoting the fight.
He is excited to show that he, too, is a better fighter than he was before.
“Everyone talks about how he [is going to get better], but they forget it’s not just one guy working hard and trying to fix [mistakes],” Pereira said. “I have worked very hard to get to this point and I am not ready to say, ‘OK, this is all good,’ and accept whatever happens. No. I will be a different fighter, a better fighter, too. Don’t forget that.”
