Derek Brunson gives Alex Pereira the edge over UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
After just three octagon wins, Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is expected to challenge former kickboxing “friend” Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) next.
Pereira, a former two-division Glory champion, defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing. One of his wins came by his patented left hook knockout which he also sparked Sean Strickland with in Round 1 at UFC 276, and Brunson thinks his power could be the difference maker.
“If I was betting, I’m a betting guy, I’m gonna bet on Alex,” Brunson told Helen Yee. “Not because he beat him, well yeah, because he beat him twice, but Izzy was winning the kickboxing match that he got knocked out in by Alex is from what I heard.
“Alex, you know, he stays in there and he looks to like, trade. He’s not moving back a lot. So, you got five rounds to find your one punch. So maybe give it to Alex, I don’t know or maybe if I had to bet I’ll go Alex.”
Brunson isn’t counting Adesanya out though. “The Stylebender” is coming off his third-straight five-round decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 and Brunson sees his experience in championship rounds playing a factor.
“But I can easily see Izzy winning too, just standing on the outside, picking him apart,” Brunson added. “And I’ve seen Alex, I think in a fight before the fight with Strickland (Silva), them guys were back-and-forth and they were both a little tired. Izzy fought five rounds, so yeah definitely interesting.”
Since suffering a first-round knockout loss to Adesanya in November 2018, Brunson (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) has won five of his past six. He almost got his long-desired rematch with Adesanya, but was stopped by Cannonier in a title eliminator bout in his past outing at UFC 271.
