STAR MMA PREVIEW Sat: UFC 281

Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya is the most dominant champion in the UFC but this weekend he faces a ghost from his past and a genuine threat to his middleweight reign.

Alex Pereira is the only man to ever knock Adesanya out when they were both kickboxing and although they are now meeting in the world of MMA, many believe Pereira has the number of Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya, who trains out of New Zealand, is a divisive figure but his record as a UFC fighter is exceptional. When he entered the promotion in 2018, he had a huge reputation from kickboxing and he lived up to that reputation instantly. With a 12-1 UFC, he has blitzed through the middleweight division to become champion, notching up notable wins over the likes of Robert Whittaker, Anderson Silva and Yoel Romero.

His sole loss as a UFC athlete came against Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight when he tried to write his name in folklore by becoming a two-weight world champion. After suffering defeat, he returned to middleweight and has notched up three wins in 18 months to solidify himself as the number one middleweight in the world.

Like Adesanya, Alex Pereira is a very experienced combat athlete and dominated the world of kickboxing for a long period. He is 3-0 as a UFC athlete but in truth, he was never seen as a mixed martial artist but after watching the success Adesanya has enjoyed, the temptation clearly became too much to handle.

The Brazilian is beautiful to watch and he holds two victories over Adesanya. He won a decision in 2016, almost a year before he knocked him out in the rematch. MMA fans have picked holes in those two victories but the fact remains, Alex Pereira has fought Adesanya twice and walked away victorious both times.

The victories in kickboxing deserve credit but the world of MMA is an entirely different beast. Over the last five years, Adesanya has developed at an incredible rate and on a much bigger platform than Alex Pereira. The anticipation is huge for this fight but it will be the fighter that holds his nerve the best that will emerge victorious.

‘Stylebender’ will be nervous heading into this fight give that the last time he fought Pereira he ended up out cold on the canvas but he is the vastly more experienced MMA fighter. This is a fight that will take place exclusively on the feet so it is difficult to provide any tactical breakdown but with the constant threat of a knockout from both fighters, it promises to be an edge of the seat watch.

Providing the champ can navigate some tricky opening rounds, he holds enough advantages to win this fight. The main danger is if he enters exchanges with Pereira and with so much emotion heading into this clash, it is possible that Adesanya does become reckless and that holds the door open for Pereira which makes this an even battle. The one guarantee is that this fight will catch fire at some point and therefore, the fight to have less than four completed rounds (6/5) is a bet worth consideration.

The main event is captivating but the support cast features some brilliant fights that will deliver value for money to the fans. In the co-main event, Carla Esparza will make the first defence of her strawweight title against China’s Zhang Weili.

Esparza became the first ever UFC strawweight champion in 2014 after defeating Rose Namajunas only to surrender the belt in 2015 to Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Winning the the belt once was a brilliant achievement, but Esparza managed to become a two-time champion earlier this year once again beating Rose Namajunas by decision.

This is her first defence of the title and it could not be a more difficult task. Zhang briefly held this belt in 2019 but like Esparza, lost it after a very short reign. Since losing the strap, she has bounced back with an incredible knockout victory over Jedrzejczyk and enters this ring looking as intimidating as ever.

Esparza has been an incredible servant to the sport of mixed martial arts but it feels inevitable that Zhang will be the champion once again. Providing she can navigate the very skilled ground game that Esparza has, she should be able to land enough damage to win this one by KO/TKO (5/4)

One other fight to keep an eye on is the lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. These two are legends in the sport of MMA but they still have hopes of reaching the top of this lightweight division and are fighting to remain relevant.

The UFC is known for handing out bonuses for epic fights and this looks a sure bet to receive a bonus. Neither of these two athletes know how to take a backward step and the only negative for fans is that it will be over three rounds rather than five.

It’s impossible to predict a winner in this fight but what we should get is a three round war that will go down in the history books. Fight to go the distance at (7/4) looks a good bet.

JORDAN NEILD

RECOMMENDED BETS

BACK Less than 4 completed rounds in Adesanya vs Pereira 1pt at 6/5 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Weili Zhang to win by KO/TKO 2pts at 5/4 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Poirier vs Chandler to go the distance 1pt at 7/4 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)