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MMA **OFFICIAL MMA THREAD**

Liberty City El said:
Who Israel Adesanya was back then is not who he is now & a Glory Kickboxing match is a lot different than a UFC MMA fight.

I agree that Pereira is a really good heavy handed striker, but catching Izzy with an uppercut back in 2017 doesn’t mean he’ll do it in 2022/23. If you watch the first two Kickboxing matches they had Izzy out-struck Peirera in the first fight & was actually winning the 2nd fight in the first two rounds where he was landing a barrage of combination strikes & putting heavy pressure on AP, however I give AP credit for switching gears & finding the soft zone in Izzy’s forward attack & landing the big uppercut.

But in all reality that moment has been really blown up because Izzy has dominated 185 so much that people are grasping at straws to find someone who can beat Izzy because they’re tired of & hate his dominance.

The idea that Alex Pereira is some kind of kryptonite for Israel Adesanya is actually kinda funny. Maybe it holds some weight in a Kickboxing match, but as a MMA fighter Pereira is just 6-1, he’s not some juggernaut that will dominate the Middleweight division. He’s just another guy in a long line of guys that people have built into a new Super Villain to try to take down Adesanya.

At this point, they’ll search under every rock & crevice from Southeast Asia to Brazil to find someone, anyone who can stop Adesanya. It just speaks volumes to how great he really is that people will literally invent narratives & storylines with the purpose of trying to find any angle they can to take him down... Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work.

Adesanya’s greatness speaks for itself, people have to work overtime to discredit him without realizing they’re just highlighting how legendary of a fighter he really is with how hard they have to go to find something to blemish him.

AP will be used as good promo to sell the fight & then he’ll get in that octagon & lose just like the rest of’em lol
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Strickland's game-plan was so questionable...I know he previously stated he was ok standing with Pereira, but it was clear to everyone else that method wasn't his easiest path to victory. He was so content walking forward and eventually moved straight into a KO...should have gone to the ground more. Kudos for him taking the fight - not many Top ten contenders, heck let alone top five - would risk a bout against an unranked contender, knowing what the ramifications could wind up being.

To me, Izzy has the whole entertainment factor down pat, but it's been close to two years since he totally annihilated Costa back at UFC 253. He seems so content with leg kicks, his jab...I don't see the fire to finish someone off. I thought he would have that opportunity vs. Killa Gorilla, and kudos to Cannonier for making it a somewhat respectable bout; however, I really thought Stylebender would put on a show, especially entering the arena carrying the supposed dude's ashes. Seems more like a modern-day Floyd Mayweather where he knows he would have to be beaten convincingly in order to lose his champion status, and can get away with more of a defensive approach.

I actually would have liked to see Strickland vs. Izzy, Strickland anything north of +225 would have gotten my attention...as someone with relentless pressure and a very solid ground game, Izzy would have to put on his best performance. Not sure if Pereira gets the shot immediately, but hopefully we see a more vengeful and violent Izzy when there's bad blood involved. Despite being disappointed in his lack of aggression, his technique is superb.
 
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Craziest KO I’ve ever seen in MMA, did not expect that at all. Never thought I’d see Usman get flatlined good gawd
 
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