Alex Pereira 'might actually beat' Israel Adesanya but struggle to hold a UFC belt Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Approve Reject & ban Delete Logout

Alex Pereira might actually beat Israel Adesanya but may struggle to hold on to UFC title

Israel Adesanya (left) and Alex Pereira (right) (Images via Getty) is set to face former kickboxing champion next. While Pereira may have what it takes to beat Adesanya for a third time, Dan Lambert believes his title reign may be short given all the strong wrestlers in the UFC middleweight division. The American Top Team owner knows just how important wrestling is to a mixed martial artist's success, having developed amateur wrestlers like Colby Covington and Bo Nickal into tough cage fighters. In a new episode of Punchin' In, Lambert said: "I don't know how you beat Izzy unless you wrestlef*** him. Hey, we'll see what happens with Pereira, because that guy's obviously got some smoke in his hands, which he's shown to Izzy before. Showed it again with Sean Strickland. That's going to be a fun fight. Funny thing about Pereira is he might actually beat Izzy, who's a top five pound for pound fighter in the world, a dominant champion right now." FLYING KNEE KNOCKOUT FOR ALEX PEREIRA

Stream next on FLYING KNEE KNOCKOUT FOR ALEX PEREIRA Stream next on He might beat him, but not be able to beat any wrestler in the division. I haven't seen the guy wrestle. His first fight in the UFC he fought a guy who was not a highly touted fighter or wrestler, and the guy took him down pretty quick. It's the only time I've seen anyone shoot a takedown on him." Watch Dan Lambert discuss Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya below: Andreas Michailidis is the fighter that Dan Lambert is referencing, and he took Alex Pereira down twice off seven attempts. While he managed to keep the kickboxer on the ground for the majority of the first round, Pereira hit him with a flying knee just 18 seconds into the second round. Pereira's second UFC opponent, Bruno Silva, also attempted to take him down but had less success. Just two of his eight takedowns landed, and Pereira was back up on his feet within a minute of both. So there is evidence that 'Poatan' has been beefing up his wrestling while training with Glover Teixeira over the past two years. Jab to the body, feint, left hook.

Alex Pereira showing Glover Teixeira how he set up his knockout against Sean Strickland.Jab to the body, feint, left hook.Alex Pereira showing Glover Teixeira how he set up his knockout against Sean Strickland.

Israel Adesanya responds to Alex Pereira s impressive knockout of Sean Strickland at UFC 276

Alex Pereira locked up a title shot against Israel Adesanya off the strength of his KO win over Sean Strickland at UFC 276. When asked at the post-fight press conference what his thoughts on Pereira's performance were, Israel Adesanya said: "It was a good fight. But Sean Strickland should have focused on his job like I told him to." Israel Adesanya and Strickland had several back and forths during the UFC 276 fan event, with Strickland managing to get 'The Last Stylebender' reminded Strickland that he was fighting Pereira that weekend, not him. Following on Saturday night, it seems like Strickland didn't give the GLORY kickboxing double champion the attention and respect he deserved.Sean Strickland went after Israel Adesanya at the press conference Sean Strickland went after Israel Adesanya at the press conference Poll : 0 votes Quick Links More from Sportskeeda Thank You! Show More Comments No thanks Delete Cancel Update Reply ❮ ❯ No thanks Delete Cancel Update Reply ❮ ❯ Be the first one to comment on this story More from Sportskeeda Fetching more content... 1 Logout No Results Found