Israel Adesanya Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

Israel Adesanya doesn't like rival’s chances in 205-pound debut

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 5/19/23

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has fought both Jan Blachowicz and Alex Pereira.

For that reason, he believes he has a pretty good idea of how their fight in the UFC 291 co-main event will play out, confident that Blachowicz will spoil Periera’s light heavyweight debut.

“I think Jan is going to take him down and just beat him up there,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Jan will stand with him for a bit but eventually just get him to the fence or try to take him down the way he took me down. I don’t think he’s going to shoot [for a takedown], so he’s going to to get him to the fence.”

Adesanya saw Blachowicz’s grappling skills firsthand during their UFC 259 fight in March 2021. The 40-year-old Poland native, who regularly fights in the 205-pound division, pushed around the smaller Adesanya, who moved up in weight from 185 pounds, for five rounds, besting him in the clinch and on the ground. It was Adesanya’s first professional MMA loss.

Jan Blachowicz in full control over Israel Adesanya to end round 5 #UFC259

(via @ufc)pic.twitter.com/wgdWd1x1rt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 7, 2021

Blachowicz, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, mixed in takedowns with his striking to frustrate Adesanya, getting him to the mat and gaining dominant positions like side control and full mount to rein down strikes from top position.

The game plan worked against Adesanya, and he feels it will work just as well against Pereira, who has a kickboxing background and likes to keep fights on the feet.

“I thought he was going to come and fight the way he normally fights, but he [grappled] at the right times and took me down,” Adesanya continued. “So yeah, [Blachowicz] could get caught coming in…[but] what if he gets [Pereira] down? Can he keep him down?”

Pereira (7-2) is coming off his first UFC loss to Adesanya at UFC 287 in April. He lost the middleweight belt in his first title defense and chose to move up a weight class following the loss. Blachowicz (29-9-1) has won six of his last eight fights and is 1-1-1 since his unanimous decision win over Adesanya two years ago.

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