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A huge UFC 281 card will get underway on November 12. Light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith believes Israel Adesanya will retain his middleweight title in his highly anticipated clash against Alex Pereira on Saturday night.
'Poatan' has gained a similar fear factor in MMA that he had during his time kickboxing and has proven on multiple occasions why fighters shouldn't doubt him inside the octagon. Riding a six-fight win streak with three of those coming in the UFC, the Brazilian is searching for further success in his title fight this weekend.
In analyzing the matchup, Anthony Smith stated that the much better technical fighter was Israel Adesanya and that he finds it hard to bet on a "lucky" punch arriving from Alex Pereira.
"I think he's [Adesanya] gonna win the technical striking game, he's always gonna win that because I think he's just the technically better striker. Obviously, Alex is the more powerful one, so as an analyst, when I'm looking at these, I can't bet that Alex is gonna get lucky... You gotta look at the film and Izzy is the more technical striker that's been doing this for a longer time. He's gonna be comfortable in MSG, in these big spots, on pay-per-view when it matters. I gotta go with the safe bet and that's Israel Adesanya."
Although the challenger initially missed weight, he later stepped on the scale at 184.6lbs, making this one official. The pair are set to collide in the headliner of UFC 281 following the women's strawweight title clash between Carla Esparza and Zhang Weili.
Check out what Anthony Smith thinks about the middleweight title clash in the video below.
Israel Adesanya's ability to outwork opponents
Since becoming champion, fans have been less than pleased with Israel Adesanya for his supposed "boring" nature. However, the elite striker has proven time and time again that he is a level above the rest of the division in that department.
Excluding his brawl against Kelvin Gastelum and his venture to 205lbs, 'The Last Stylebender' is barely touched each time he steps into the cage. This makes his distance management look better every time he competes.
While his ability to not get hit is likely better than ever, Adesanya will run into some problems against the aggressive former Glory light heavyweight and middleweight champion. 'Poatan' will most probably be headhunting from early on into the fight.
