‘Pereira Has a Lot of Vulnerabilities’- Israel Adesanya’s Coach Gets Candid on Alex Pereira’s Fast Rise in the UFC
Famed MMA coach Eugene Bareman appeared in an interview with Submission Radio and discussed Isreal Adesanya’s recent win over Jared Cannonier. ‘Izzy’ walked away with the unanimous decision win. However, he was heavily criticized for not pushing the action during the contest. Many fans saw Israel Adesanya’s win as lackluster as ‘The Last Stylebender’ didn’t show much urgency and seemed content to simply cruise to a UD win.
However, Adesanya’s post-fight call-out of arch-rival Alex Pereira has excited UFC fans, as ‘Poatan’ has been nothing but an action fight. In fact, he secured a scintillating KO win over Sean Strickland on the main card of UFC 276. With the win, Pereira all but solidified his status as the next man in line to face Israel Adesanya and he’ll want to go 3-0 over the middleweight champion.
Eugene Bareman discusses Alex Pereira’s rise
To say that Pereira was fast-tracked up the UFC ranks would be an understatement. With just 3 fights in the UFC, he’s already been called out by the champion and is likely next in line. While some believe his rise has been hastened to cash in on his rivalry with Adesanya from their kickboxing days, Bareman believes it is so that Pereira’s vulnerabilities don’t get exposed on the big stage.
“They need to get Pereira to Israel as fast as they can. Because obviously Pereira has a lot of vulnerabilities, and if they wait too long, those vulnerabilities will get exposed, and then there’s no fight. So, you’ve got to push him toward Israel as fast as you can before any of those vulnerabilities are exposed.”
“So that looks like it’s a next fight. Israel would love that fight. Israel would love that fight. I think he wants the fight. So, I mean, Israel’s the champ, he’s the man that’s put himself in a position where he can choose what he wants to do. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the next fight.” [h/t mmajunkie.com]
Bareman is certain that if Pereira had a slow ascent up the middleweight ranks, he would be exposed for not being well-rounded, and thus the UFC would lose out on an opportunity to make the fight that will generate a ton of hype.
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