Credit:Getty/UFC
Credit: Getty/UFC
Credit: Getty/UFC
There’s a decent possibility that the foundation for the next
middleweight title bout could be in place following the conclusion
of UFC 276
on Saturday.
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Given the previous history between Israel
Adesanya and Alex
Pereira — “Poatan” defeated the reigning champion twice in
kickboxing bouts — there is already plenty of interest for a third
meeting between the two under the UFC banner. Adesanya will defend
his belt against Jared
Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner, while Pereira will face
streaking contender Sean
Strickland in a main card bout.
“I mean, both these guys came from Glory Kickboxing. Pereira is a
former double champion there — middleweight and light heavyweight.
He’s got two wins over Israel
Adesanya,” UFC president Dana White told Yahoo
Sports. “And, you know, he’s got two wins in the UFC right now.
So taking on tough, durable, nutty Strickland, which should be a
damn good fight. And if he wins, it makes a lot of sense to do the
Adesanya fight.”
Pereira is relatively inexperienced at the highest level of MMA,
with victories over Andreas
Michailidis and Bruno Silva
in UFC competition thus far. Strickland, a former King of the Cage
champion who is riding a six-bout winning streak in the Octagon,
will be his most significant test to date. And it just might be
enough to propel the Brazilian striker to No. 1 contender at 185
pounds.
“If Pereira can win this fight, [it] puts him in a very fun fight
with [a] great storyline against Adesanya,” White said.
Adesanya must take care of business in the main event, as well.
Cannonier has won five of his last six within the Las Vegas-based
promotion — four via knockout — and White is expecting fireworks
with the middleweight title on the line.
“And if you look at these two, both guys are knockout artists. Both
guys have huge power. People don’t– for some reason, people don’t
give Adesanya the credit for the knockouts. This guy’s got 15 wins
by knockout. Cannonier has got 10 wins by knockout,” White
said.
“Both guys have been criticized about their wrestling. You know,
Cannonier has worked on his wrestling over the last couple of
years. Stylistically, I see this as a gunfight, man. I think these
two are gonna come in and start blasting each other. And this
should be a very fun main event. And Adesanya, you know … he loves
the belt and what it’s done for him. It’s obviously made him money
and lots of other things. He’s looking for highlights now. He wants
to just start finishing people with incredible finishes. So it’s
got incredible written all over it.”