Anthony Smith is putting his faith in Israel Adesanya.
With the massive UFC 281 event, just days away all of the fans and media are discussing the event. The main event will feature a middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanya and challenger Alex Pereria. These two men have faced off against one another in kickboxing twice but this will be the first meeting inside the UFC Octagon.
Pereira holds two wins over Adesanya and because of this many people are picking him to win once again. On a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast featuring Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith, Smith gave his thought on the matchup and why he thinks Pereira is the biggest threat in the division for the champ.
“I’ve been really excited about this matchup and the thought of the matchup. I think what I found myself doing was just because there’s someone who may have an opportunity to give Adesanya a challenge on his feet, somebody can stay safe and be dangerous there. I think that for a while I was thinking maybe it’s gonna go better for Pereira than maybe it will. Because the more I dig into it and watch it and I’m watching both of them fight. It’s kind of just they’re total opposite types of strikers. It’s just Pereira is the only guy that can fight Israel Adesanya on his feet on his terms. No one else in the division that can do that.”
Anthony Smith feels that Israel Adesanya can take care of business on November 12
Anthony Smith fights in the UFC light heavyweight division. He has faced the best there is and fought for a title back in 2019. Now he is spending a lot of time on the analyst side of things. He is breaking down this upcoming title fight and feels that Adesnaya can do what he does best and will get past Pereira.
“What I’m afraid of is that Izzy is going to be so focused in so hyper-aware of the power shot, that he’s never going to put himself in a position or he’s never going to be out of position,” he said. “I don’t think either one of them are going to wrestle. I just think that Izzy’s going to stick and move. He’s going to hit him from the outside. He’s going to be ranging and long because even though Alex Pereira is as long or longer than Izzy, he doesn’t fight long. He likes to get in tight and kind of get in the nastiness a little bit. I just honestly, I just believe in Izzy. I believe in his ability to stay safe and defensively he’s been masterful up to this point.”
UFC 281 goes down on Saturday, Nov. 12 live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Adesanya has stated that this fight is personal for him and plans to come out on top and continue his reign in the UFC middleweight division.
Watch the full interview here:
