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Michael Bisping believes that current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will face one of the most difficult challenges of his reign at UFC 276.
The current consensus is that Robert Whittaker remains the toughest matchup for Israel Adesanya at middleweight. While Cannonier has only one decision loss against Whittaker, Adesanya holds two wins over 'Bobby Knuckles'.
However, as always, one can't really apply MMA math to figure out how a fight will pan out. Explaining the difference between the two on his YouTube channel, Bisping said:
"You've got to remember, styles make fights. Robert was mixing in takedowns and things like that [against Cannonier]. Israel is not gunning to hit a takedown. He may hit a knockdown, that's for damn sure."
Using both their fights against middleweight G.O.A.T. Anderson Silva as reference points, Michael Bisping explained just how Jared Cannonier's style poses a threat to Israel Adesanya on the feet.
Firstly, Bisping pointed out how Adesanya's fight with Silva ended in a close decision, whereas Jared Cannonier put on a more scoring and efficient performance that ended in a TKO.
Breaking down Cannonier's performance against 'The Spider' and how it plays into his upcoming title shot, Bisping said:
"When you're fighting Anderson Silva, it's the same thing as fighting Israel Adesanya. When you fight a guy that's tall, lankyn long, range-y, excellent kickboxing, very long reach, you have to take away the reach advantage. You have to put them on the back foot."
He also explained how Cannonier used speed against Silva:
"Jared took his time, but he was explosive. Jared cut off the cage, he backed him up, he mirrored him, he shadowed him... The reflexes were fast. He's certainly very, very fast. When he fought Anderson Silva, he looked like lightning, he landed three right hands in a row. The kicks, obviously were on-point, his reflexs were great, checked everything, didn't take any damage."
Watch Michael Bisping talk about the upcoming Adesanya vs. Cannonier bout:
Taking into account that both fighters fought Anderson Silva way past his prime and on the feet, Bisping does make some very convincing arguments regarding the UFC 276 main event.
Israel Adesanya recalls his performance against Anderson Silva
In a video posted by BT Sport on Twitter, Israel Adesanya broke down his fight against Anderson Silva.
He recalled being hurt by the middleweight legend, but also hurting him back. Understandably, the reigning king regrets not going in and finishing the greatest of the division. Yet, he also implied that it was probably a wise move, since Silva was always relentless with his counters towards advancing opponents.
It is evident that Adesanya, too, recalls his fight against Silva being close and not quite as efficient as that of Jared Cannonier. On th other hand, 'The Killa Gorilla' was winning the first round, which is also when he finished Anderson Silva.
