Israel Adesanya is picking his longtime foe to fall short in the main event of UFC 303.
Alex Pereira will defend his light heavyweight title in a main event rematch against former champ Jiri Prochazka this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Adesanya has faced Pereira multiple times over the years in both kickboxing and MMA — with the two most recent contests taking place in the UFC with each man getting a knockout win.
On his YouTube channel, Adesanya is going with a new champion on Saturday.
“I’m going to go Jiri, because we’re the chosen few,” Adesnaya predicted. “But also, I think he might have learned from his mistake, because people don’t understand, and it also makes things interesting — if [Jiri beats Alex] then it’s a trifecta, a trilogy, yeah.
“And I won’t be the only guy to knock this guy out. ... I’m going to go Jiri, and I’m going to go by third-round, or fourth-round finish.”
Pereira stopped Prochazka in the first round in the main event of UFC 295 this past November at Madison Square Garden to capture the vacant 205-pound title.
Both men competed at UFC 300 in April, with Pereira knocking out Jamahal Hill in the main event, and Prochazka stopped Aleksandar Rakic on the preliminary card. The rematch takes place on just over two weeks’ notice as the fight replaces the originally scheduled Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight following McGregor’s injury.
Adesnaya thinks the short-notice nature, and the fact that they just competed against one another seven months prior makes this fight even more fascinating.
“The approach from both fighters will be different because they both know what could happen — Alex knows he can get taken down and controlled, and Jiri knows he can get knocked out. But also, Alex knows he can get touched and hurt by Jiri. ... [It will be a] more calculated [fight], slower, because also they are taking this on short notice. They’re both relatively fit, but again, five-round fit, that’s the one. I know it’s short notice, but five-round fit, that’s crazy.
“Someone’s going to die — that’s going to be 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, five rounds. Because holding on for five rounds, if you’re not fit, it’s a bad time. Bad as hell. So you have to go in there and just be like, either he dies, or I die.
