UFC 281 boasts an incredible lineup on the main card and preliminaries. However, there is no doubt that the main event of Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira takes the spotlight. This battle has been years in the making and is somewhat of a full-circle origin story for both fighters. The Last Stylebender and Potan have faced off twice before in kickboxing matchups years ago.

Both fights went in favor of Pereira, one win by a very controversial judges’ decision and one by a brutal one-punch KO.

The UFC, Alex, and many fans have used these wins, particularly the KO, to taunt Izzy and promote the fight. However, going back and watching these fights, the Stylebender’s dominance is clear despite his losses.  

Many believe Izzy is going into this fight and going to get brutally KO’d again. Or at the very least, they believe Pereira will be the one to finally defeat Adesanya who has been undefeated in the 185lb weight class, mainly because Pereira has beaten him twice before. While this will be an extremely challenging fight for both fighters and a fantastic technical striking bout, it would be foolish to count out the middleweight champion so quickly.

In both fights where Pereira defeated Adesanya, Adesanya was dominant.

The first fight’s judge’s decision was very controversial and there was a questionable standing eight count that may have allowed Pereira to survive where he otherwise would have been finished. In terms of Pereira knocking out Israel, Israel was dominating most of that fight until he got caught, which happens to the best of fighters. If there is something to know about Israel Adesanya, it’s that he learns from his mistakes, and never comes back to a fight unimproved. Alex “Potan” Pereira will most definitely be a difficult opponent for Adesanya, but his two previous losses to Pereira might actually be an advantage for Adesanya as the experience he has learned from.  

Regardless of personal fight predictions, this matchup is an absolute treat for viewers and will be a striking clinic that everyone can learn from. It will be interesting to see if the champion decides to leverage his experience in MMA and try to take the fight to the ground, testing Pereira’s grappling skills which he has not had an opportunity to show yet. However the fight goes, it will most definitely be one of the most memorable UFC PPVs in history.