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Chael Sonnen believes Israel Adesanya should resort to mental warfare as he heads towards a potential middleweight title bout against former foe Alex Pereira. Pereira has beaten Adesanya twice in a pair of kickboxing matches in the past and happens to be the only man on the planet to have a KO win against 'The Last Stylebender'.
'Poatan' took the UFC by storm since joining back in November last year, establishing himself as a title contender with just three fights under his belt. Now that a trilogy fight between Adesanya and Pereira seems likely next, Sonnen believes the Nigerian-born Kiwi should play mind games to gain the upper hand.
'The American Gangster' claims Adesanya should remind the Brazilian of the threat of being taken down in a potential fight. Sonnen pointed out that while 'Poatan' is fairly new to MMA, Adesanya has spent years rolling on the mats with elite fighters.
In a recently shared video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen said:
"Adesanya hasn't started playing the head games by the way, one of the head games that I would expect is for him to say, ' What you don't know, because I prefer to kick box what you don't know is I've been wrestling every day for seven years. I can and I will take you down' even if that's just gamesmanship."
Watch the full interview below:
Alex Pereira claims he "impressed" Israel Adesanya by knocking him out in their rematch
Alex Pereira believes Israel Adesanya knows he has a tough task ahead of him in his next fight. Although 'Poatan' admits that Adesanya won't credit him in public for beating him in two kickboxing fights, he feels that 'The Last Stylebender' recognizes the threat he poses.
Pereira also claimed that Adesanya was impressed with his striking skills after getting knocked out in their kickboxing rematch. During a recent appearance on Speaking to MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast, Pereira said:
"Of course, he’d never give me props, but what he thinks or doesn’t think doesn’t change a thing to me. You have to ask him if he was impressed when I knocked him out. Was he not impressed? If he wasn’t, he’s sick."
The Brazilian expects a trilogy fight against Adesanya to be an intriguing matchup. He believes they will put on an exciting show for the fans, who already seem to be eagerly waiting for the fight to materialise.
