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Henry Cejudo is the latest fighter to weigh in on Israel Adesanya's middleweight championship loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281.
On his YouTube channel, 'Triple C' discussed Adesanya's performance and what he should do next. 'Triple C' mentioned the former champion should take a layoff and allow Robert Whittaker an opportunity to match up with Pereira before returning:
"Maybe take a year off man. Let's make your comeback memorable. If I was in Israel's position, I would just take the backseat cause he is 0-3 against the guy. If Alex [Pereira] beats him again, dude, he's almost snatching Israel's legacy from kickboxing to the sport of MMA."
Cejudo added that 'Izzy' would benefit if 'The Reaper' challenges 'Poatan' for the middleweight throne. He alluded to the ground control 'The Last Stylebender' had during the fight and mentioned that although he's a great fighter, there's still room for improvement in the grappling department.
'Triple C' believes that Whittaker is the biggest threat in the middleweight division at the moment:
"I do believe that Robert Whittaker is the biggest threat for any of those 185-pounders other than Israel - Israel tends to be his kryptonite [a fictional substance that can harm Superman] - but I can see Robert Whittaker challenging Alex in a very compelling way. His distance game, the fact that he'll blitz and he'll probably look for takedowns."
Pereira has a lot of options at middleweight because of his meteoric rise. Prior to becoming UFC middleweight champion, 'Poatan's biggest win was against Sean Strickland. It'd be interesting to see how he would match up with the likes of Whittaker, Marvin Vettori, and Paulo Costa - foes who have far superior grappling than Adesanya.
Check out the full video:
What should Israel Adesanya do next?
Despite losing the UFC middleweight championship, Israel Adesanya could still set himself up for a rematch. Whether he returns immediately or takes a short layoff, he has done enough as a champion to demand an immediate title shot.
Prior to his loss to Pereira, 'Izzy' essentially cleaned out the middleweight division. He has already defeated top contenders including Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson, Marvin Vettori, and Paulo Costa.
We could also see him spending more time focusing on his wrestling. Even if Pereira were to lose the title to Whittaker, 'Izzy' could still return and fight 'Poatan' in a title-eliminator bout and avenge his losses.
