Israel Adesanya has a vested interest in UFC 303’s main event this weekend (Sat., June 29, 2024).
The former two-time UFC Middleweight champion is the current Light Heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira’s, biggest rival throughout their combat sports careers. With Pereira currently up 3-1 in their series across kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA), Adesanya got the most recent laugh when he scored a second round knockout (watch highlights) over Pereira to snatch back the 185-pound crown in April 2023. Therefore, sending Pereira up to 205 pounds where he’s made history.
Although Pereira heads into this upcoming Jiri Prochazka rematch with a second round technical knockout of the Czech (watch highlights) on his resume, Adesanya, expects a different outcome than we saw in November 2023.
“I’m going to go Jiri because we’re the chosen few,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel (h/t MMA Fighting). “But also, I think he might have learned from his mistake because people don’t understand, and it also makes things interesting — if [Prochazka beats Pereira] then it’s a trifecta, a trilogy, yeah.
“And I won’t be the only guy to knock this guy out,” he concluded. “I’m going to go Jiri, and I’m going to go by third-round, or fourth-round finish.”
Pereira and Prochazka have both earned finish victories since their first fight. At UFC 300, they won their respective bouts against Jamahal Hill (watch highlights) and Aleksandar Rakic (watch highlights), setting up this short-notice sequel.
Ultimately, “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya expects the rematch element of the match up to be a big factor, but the short notice is the biggest.
“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,” Adesanya said. “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,” he continued. “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.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 303 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 303: “Alex vs. Jiri 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.