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Israel Adesanya's return to the octagon will come against Alex Pereira at UFC 287. Adesanya was defeated by Pereira at UFC 281, losing the middleweight title.
Welterweight Matt Brown believes the former champion's legacy may be on the line. Speaking on his podcast, The Fighter vs. The Writer, 'The Immortal' stated:
"This is his legacy here. He has to beat Alex Pereira for his legacy. It's that important. This is what changes his entire legacy all together. This single fight, and this is probably his last chance at it. If Pereira beats him, maybe he can work his way back to the top but he's working his way back to a third fight against a guy that beat him twice."
He added:
"I feel like that's a tough call for the promoters to put together... To me, this is his legacy on the line this weekend, and where he goes from there, hopefully he's not even looking at Sunday and thinking about it. Hopefully this is the last day that matters to him is Saturday."
Check out Matt Brown's comments on Israel Adesanya below (starting at the 42:00 mark):
While Israel Adesanya has been unable to overcome Alex Pereira, each of their three fights, two of which took place in kickboxing, have been closely contested.
'The Last Stylebender' went ahead three rounds to one on all three judges' scorecards at UFC 281 before 'Poatan' picked up a fifth-round TKO.
Israel Adesanya's return: Sean O'Malley believes 'The Last Stylebender' will use his ground game to reclaim title
While Israel Adesanya is not known for his wrestling skills, Sean O'Malley believes that he may put them on display at UFC 287.
Speaking on his podcast, TimboSugarShow, the No.2-ranked bantamweight shared his prediction for the upcoming middleweight title fighting, stating:
"Let's get it, Izzy. Finish, baby. I think he's going to come out and wrestle. I feel like he's going to come out, he's got a couple maybe good takedowns - come out, wrestle, put him on his back, really get him thinking. Maybe [Pereira] won't be able to march forward as much if he does have some kind of - who knows? You never f**king know."
Check out Sean O'Malley's prediction for UFC 287 below (starting at the 26:50 mark):
Adesanya will enter UFC 287 as the middleweight challenger for the first time in nearly four years as he looks to reclaim the title. meanwhile, Pereira is looking to defend the middleweight throne for the first time.
