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Michael Bisping claims that a middleweight title bout between reigning champion Israel Adesanya and UFC newcomer Alex Pereira will make for an intriguing matchup. Pereira, the only fighter to have knocked out Adesanya, is yet to make his octagon debut.
"What's a fun fight to make with a big storyline - Adesanya vs Pereira for the middleweight title. He [Adesanya] is like 'for f**ks sake, will this guy just f**k off?' Do you know what I mean? He beat me twice in kickboxing, I've f**ked that world off and now the man.....Izzy is not taking anybody down, no offense," Bisping said.
According to 'The Count,' there are various reasons why Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira is the fight to make.
The Brazilian has already beaten Adesanya twice, albeit under kickboxing rules. Although Pereira is new to MMA, he is unlikely to face any ground threats from the middleweight champion. Israel Adesanya rarely grapples in a fight. A contest between the two will likely be contested on the feet.
Alex Pereira is set to make his octagon debut against Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268 on November 6 at Madison Square Garden, New York.
Israel Adesanya will make quick work of Alex Pereira in MMA, claims Javier Mendez
In a recent episode of his YouTube podcast, MMA coach Javier Mendez weighed in on a potential fight between Adesanya and Pereira. Mendez hailed the Brazilian for his incredible knockout power. However, he remarked that Adesanya was outpointing Pereira before getting knocked out.
If the pair collide inside the octagon, Mendez believes Israel Adesanya will comfortably win the fight. According to him, Adesanya is far ahead of Pereira in MMA. If they ever fight again, the outcome will be entirely different from the last two times.
"So I don't personally see him and Israel being at the same level in MMA because Izzy's so far ahead of him. So far ahead of him. But, because he did beat him in a kickboxing match, and knocked him out, and beat him another time, people are gonna want to see that. But you might be surprised to find out that it's gonna be a whole different ball game. This is not kickboxing, this is MMA," Mendez said.
Watch Javier Mendes' full podcast below:
