The former middleweight champion has shared a particularly bold prediction for how the main event of UFC 303 will unfold this weekend.
Only a handful of athletes have been courageous enough to step into the octagon with light heavyweight superstar Alex Pereira, yet even fewer have been willing to lay it all on the line with ‘Poatan’ twice. This weekend, Jiri Prochazka joins that ‘chosen few’.
Israel Adesanya shares prediction for UFC 303 main event fight
Despite not being able to enjoy a methodical build-up, former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya noted that the UFC 303 main event remains “an interesting fight still,” and one that he’s looking forward to, even on just two week’s notice.
Yet given both his experience fighting Alex Pereira across two separate sports as well as his own foray into the light heavyweight division, MMA fans will be fascinated to hear what ‘Stylebender’ has to say regarding the title fight topping the bill at UFC 303.
“The approach from both fighters will be different because they both know what can happen,” he explained: “Alex knows that he can get taken down and controlled, [whereas] Jiri knows that he can get knocked out – Alex knows that he can get touched and hurt by Jiri [too].”
Adesanya then offered some key advice to ‘BJP’ ahead of the highly anticipated rematch in Las Vegas, one that stems from his own iconic revenge plan over ‘Poatan’ back at UFC 287.
“Jiri needs to be more mindful of his entrances,” he argued, before stating that “When you hurt him, or if you think you have a moment, don’t rush just take your time and it’ll come…
“Alex can surprise him as well, if Jiri takes him down then Alex can surprise him with some new s*** on the ground that he’s been working on.”
The former middleweight king believes that the upcoming rematch will be “more calculated” than the first fight, partially thanks to the nature of taking a five-round fight on two weeks’ notice.
“They are both relatively fit but five-round fit? Man, that’s the one [to watch], short-notice for five rounds-fit, that’s crazy – Someone’s going to die.
“That’s the mindset; either he finishes me, or I finish him, that’s the mindset you have to have if you’re taking a short-notice fight [at] five rounds.”
Ultimately, Adesanya opted to side against both his former foe and the bookie’s favorite, predicting that Jiri Prochazka will earn the underdog victory and re-claim the light heavyweight title.
“So, who’s going to try and kill who in this fight? I’m going to go Jiri because we’re the chosen few, but I think he might have learned from his mistakes…
“I’m going to go Jiri and I’m going to by third round or fourth round finish.”
Israel Adesanya told he’d need to move up for trilogy fight with Pereira
Whilst Adesanya is indeed picking Alex Pereira to lose his light heavyweight title at UFC 303 this weekend, Poatan himself has recently come out to declare that he’d only be willing to face ‘Stylebender’ for their own trilogy clash in his new divisional home of 205lbs.
“No, I wouldn’t go back to middleweight to face Israel Adesanya, I don’t even think I can make 185 lbs anymore,” the two-division champion told Stake, via MMA Weekly.
“I feel super motivated at light heavyweight. If there were talks about another match with him, it would have to be at light heavyweight.”
Thankfully, Adesanya won’t need to make that decision on whether or not to move up for some time, as he’s currently in preparation for his upcoming title fight as he looks to reclaim the middleweight belt.
11 months after losing his 185lb title to Sean Strickland, Adesanya returns to action at UFC 305 in Perth, Western Australia, to face current champion Dricus du Plessis.
Earlier in the month, ‘Stylebender’ teased a more ferocious game plan for the South African, telling his supporters that he’s coming not for title glory, but for blood.
“People are always like ‘I hope you get the belt back’, I have belts. I don’t need any more belts, I’m coming for heads, that’s what I want to do. There’s just a few more that I have to touch and take.”
Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka goes down live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 29.