Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira UFC 281 Match Preview

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will defend his title against 4th ranked UFC middleweight fighter Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 281. Israel Adesanya won the championship in 2019 by defeating Robert Whittaker at UFC 243. He has successfully defended it five times since then.

On the other hand, Alex Pereira is an excellent addition to the UFC middleweight division and won five of his six MMA bouts. Alex has been a great performer in kickboxing and won many championships. Luckily, Adesanya also had a strong background in kickboxing. Both competitors faced each other in kickboxing twice, and Pereira had the upper hand in both.

But UFC is different from kickboxing, so Adesanya had no problem fighting with Pereira. In an interview with ESPN, he claimed no fear regarding Alex Pereira’s fight. He said,

“No, I don’t think [he presents the toughest challenge], He’s very one-dimensional. He’s early on in this game as well so I’m even glad to get him now. I don’t know who he has in his corner. I know he has Glover [Teixeira] and his boxing coach. I don’t know what their background is, I don’t really mind, I just worry about me. I definitely know he’s not as smart as me in the cage. I know that for a fact.”

Israel Adesanya has taken this fight personally and will try his best to avenge his kickboxing losses. His opponent Pereira did not think the same way. He believes he will get the title from his opponent and give him a rematch if he wants it. He also claimed that nothing is personal for him; he is all professional in fighting and winning the title at UFC 281. He said,

“No (it’s not personal), not for me,” Pereira said. “I will do my work and job like I would if I was fighting anyone else. I just focus on fighting for the title. …. I don’t know how he would possibly be over that (knockout). It’s still in his mind.”

Let’s take you to the records list. Alex Pereira is an exciting prospect in UFC and a kickboxing veteran. His MMA record is 6-1, including a 3-0 record in UFC. On the other hand, Israel Adesanya has an MMA record of 23-1. His only defeat came in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 259 in March 2021. Since then, he has won three more fights. It is clear from their stats that Alex Pereira is an exciting prospect for the title, but overall, Israel Adesanya has a better chance of retaining the championship.