Sean O’Malley suggested that Alex Pereira‘s insane weight cut ahead of UFC 287 could result in him finally surrendering a loss to Israel Adesanya.
Alex Pereira shocked the world in November when he scored a fifth-round knockout against ‘The Last Stylebender’ to capture the UFC middleweight championship. Months before stepping into the Octagon for their UFC 281 showdown, ‘Poatan’ revealed that he weighed 105.6kg, which is just under 233 lbs. In order to hit the middleweight limit of 185, Pereira had to cut nearly 50 lbs. The towering Brazilian powerhouse is likely looking at a very similar weight cut going into their highly anticipated rematch this Saturday night at Miami-Dade Arena.
Pereira is in weight cut mode
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— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 23, 2023
Sean O’Malley Expects Israel Adesanya to Wrestle Alex Pereira in Rematch
Discussing the UFC 287 headliner on the Timbo Sugar Show podcast, Sean O’Malley believes that Alex Pereira’s extreme weight-cutting could be his downfall, especially if he’s still attempting to cut 20+ pounds during fight week.
“How much weight is (Pereira) cutting? Izzy really doesn’t have to land clean too many times if he’s cutting that much weight,” O’Malley said. “That motherf*cker’s cutting 20 pounds, 25 pounds. Fight week, your chin goes, your brain fluid (goes).”
“I think (Adesanya will) come out and wrestle,” O’Malley added. “I feel like he’s going to come out, he’s got a couple maybe good takedowns, come out (and) wrestle, put him on his back, really get him thinking. Maybe (Pereira) won’t be able to march forward as much” (h/t Current Sportz)
Many expected Adesanya to put his wrestling skills to work in their first meeting last November, but ‘Stylebender’ opted to keep the fight standing. It nearly paid off for him as he clipped Pereira toward the end of the opening round. Going into the fifth round, it appeared as though Adesanya would escape with a unanimous decision victory. That was until Alex Pereira turned up the heat and delivered a barrage of strikes, forcing referee Marc Goddard to step in and call for the stoppage.
Going into the bout believing this is his last chance to settle the score, Israel Adesanya may attempt a different path to victory, putting his wrestling skills to the test. That could very well be his best chance at finally solving the puzzle that is Alex Pereira.