Israel Adesanya reveals his pick for the Alex Pereira vs. Jan Blachowicz matchup at UFC 291

Israel Adesanya recently weighed in on the upcoming light heavyweight matchup between Alex Pereira and Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. The Nigerian-born Kiwi believes that Pereira will secure a knockout victory. 

Pereira will make his light heavyweight debut against Blachowicz this weekend in Salt Lake City. The former middleweight champion moved up a weight class after suffering a second-round knockout against his longtime combat sports rival Israel Adesanya, who reclaimed his 205-pound throne at UFC 281. 

Before Alex Pereira’s arrival in the UFC, Adesanya’s lone MMA loss came against Blachowicz in his attempt to become a two-division champion. The Polish fighter secured a unanimous decision victory in what would be his first and only title defense as the light heavyweight champion. 

Given his familiarity with both men in the octagon, Israel Adesanya recently analyzed their matchup. In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, he claimed that the fight result could be determined by whoever lands first and said:

“If Jan does what I think he’s gonna do, he’s gonna get caught with a left hook. I don’t think this goes the distance. If it does, Jan wins. I felt [Blachowicz’s power]. I think Alex hits harder… Jan could definitely learn how to hit harder but if Jan gets him down, I think he’s just going to control him there for three rounds. I’m going Alex by knockout.” 

Israel Adesanya on Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje for the BMF title 

Israel Adesanya recently discussed the rematch between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje at UFC 291. Poirier and Gaethje will face off in a lightweight matchup for the BMF title this weekend.

This is the second time the two striking savants meet in the octagon. They first met at UFC on Fox 29 in April 2018, with ‘The Diamond’ ultimately securing a TKO win after four brutal rounds. Given the riveting nature of their first meeting, many eagerly look forward to their second outing. 

In the video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya picked Dustin Poirier to emerge victorious. Predicting the fight not going the distance, ‘The Last Stylebender’ said:

“I don’t think this goes the distance. I’m going to go with Dustin. ’DP.’ I think he’s disciplined… ‘DP’ keeps it disciplined as much as he can… Unless he has to brawl his way out of something, he might either catch him again or win the decision… I don’t know who’s going to win, but if I had to put my money on it, I’d go with DP.”

Watch the full video below (10:40):