Former world champion Israel Adesanya is going against the bookies in predicting that UFC 300 will feature a standout underdog upset win this weekend.
UFC 300 is now only a matter of days away and as the MMA community enters the final countdown to one of the biggest PPVs in the sports history, Israel Adesanya has revealed that the card could end in a historic upset.
Jamahal Hill faces Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 300
In the main event of UFC 300, Jamahal Hill attempts to reclaim his light heavyweight title, having previously been forced to vacate the 205lb championship with an Achilles injury.
After over 14 months out of action, ‘Sweet Dreams’ has drawn one of the scariest strikers in the game for his return in the form of former middleweight, and current light heavyweight champion, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.
Whilst Pereira might be a sizable favorite at the bookies, with 71% of Tapology Community Picks also siding with the Brazilian, one former foe is going against the masses and has made a bold prediction ahead of Saturday’s enormous UFC 300 PPV.
Israel Adesanya makes his official UFC 300 prediction for Pereira vs Hill
Breaking down the main UFC 300 card via his official YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya confirmed that he’s siding with underdog Jamahal Hill to get the job done over his former middleweight rival.
“Jamahal is just, I don’t think he’s scared, he’s got the knockout power, scary knockout power as well and Alex can get knocked out,” shared Adesanya, before noting on Pereira: “He’s beatable, we all know this, and I’ve proven it [already].”
“It’s five rounds so it’s going to be a slow start, first round they’ll figure each other out and get some shots off – Alex is going to be throwing the leg kick, [but] Jamahal will be finding his jab, and trying to get his fist to Alex’s head, not his chin, but his head.”
“Jamahal is just going to try and touch him, but avoiding the leg kicks is the tricky bit and I know Jamahal has some remedies for that,” teased ‘The Last Stylebender’.
Perhaps Adesanya himself knows more about these ‘remedies’ than he’s letting on, with Hill having linked up with the former middleweight king during his training camp, assumingly to offer some advice on how to defeat the ever-intimidating ‘Poatan’.
Ultimately, and despite the danger of the low kick being elevated due to Hill’s recent recovery from injury, Adesanya is expecting the American to earn the biggest win of his career at the T-Mobile Arena this weekend.
“I’m going to go Jamahal by KO – I think it’s going to be in the first two and a half rounds,” predicted Adesanya, who is himself eyeing a UFC middleweight title shot against Dricus du Plessis later this year.
Hill warns Alex Pereira not to overestimate his ground game
If Hill is to earn a knockout over Pereira, as Adesanya predicts, the assumption from many is that it would come via vicious ground-and-pound, as opposed to a clean KO shot on the feet.
Speaking to journalist E Spencer Kyte via UFC News, Hill said that Pereira should be fearful of exactly that come Saturday evening:
“Throughout the whole time I’ve been fighting, it’s grapplers; I’ve been fighting wrestlers. They can strike, but they would rather take me down [but] this dude don’t have that f****** option,” said Hill.
“He don’t have that option of ‘I’m gonna see if I can take him down.’ He grabs me, he’s f****** done! I’m not Jan [Blachowicz]. I’m not Jiri [Prochazka]. I’m not one of these dudes that got you on the ground and laid on you. When I get you down, I get on top of you, I f*** you up, period.”
Jamahal Hill vs Alex Pereira is the main event of UFC 300, set to go down on April 13 from Las Vegas.