Failing in his sole attempt land the light heavyweight championship, Israel Adesanya believes multiple-time opponent and long-time rival, Alex Pereira will also fail in his attempt – picking the returning former champion, Jiri Prochazka to “diffuse the bomb” and beat the Brazilian at UFC 295 this weekend.
Adesanya, a former two-time undisputed middleweight champion, headlined UFC 293 back in September most recently, suffering a hugely one-sided unanimous decision loss to challenger, Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia, dropping his title for the second time in the space of a year.
In November of last year in Madison Square Garden, City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya suffered his first middleweight loss in professional mixed martial arts, as Alex Pereira rallied in their rivalry-rekindling fight to snatch the title with a fifth round standing TKO success.
Israel Adesanya picks Jiri Prochazka over Alex Pereira at UFC 295
And despite stopping the Brazilian back in April via a massive second round knockout in Miami, Florida, Adesanya claims that Pereira – who he donned as a “special human being”, will be bested by the returning Prochazka at UFC 295 in his efforts to land 205 pound spoils.
“I’ll say (Alex) Pereira is a special human being,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Not just a fighter, a special human being and I’ll say that because I’ve been in there with him many times. A special human being and he’s got a special ability when it comes to putting people to sleep. He can do it to anyone. His story is very impressive. What he’s done in kickboxing, then coming to the UFC and hunting me down, getting hunter and then going up to 205 [pounds] now and looking to claim a second belt.”
“It’s a hard fight for both men, but it’s a hard fight for Jiri (Prochazka) because of that time bomb,” Adesanya explained. “You can diffuse the bomb, that’s the thing. You have to find out how to diffuse the bomb. It’s exciting, but regardless, I’m going with Jiri Prochazka.”
Who wins this weekend at UFC 295: Jiri Prochazka or Alex Pereira?